Athletes make deliberate decisions throughout the day to maintain peak health, including sleep. Josh Hagan and Emaly Vatne spent five years gathering and analyzing athletes’ sleep schedules, working to publish their findings in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research in November 2025. Key findings include reduced sleep efficiency, taking more time to fall asleep, specifically when there is practice before 8 a.m.“It took athletes longer to fall asleep when they had to wake up early, and then their sleep efficiency was also reduced,” Vatne said. “There are so many studies that show that [sleep is] where all of your memories are formed. “Even if you don’t fall asleep right away, just that time in bed without the use of your phone is really valuable.