Abstract
While daytime napping could support recovery in athletes, poorly timed or prolonged naps may interfere with nighttime sleep. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the effect of two different, well-timed nap opportunity durations, 25 and 90 min, on subsequent objectively measured nighttime sleep in student athletes. Fourteen student athletes (7 females, 7 males; age: 23 ± 2 years) completed three in-lab conditions using a randomised, counterbalanced, crossover design: no nap (NN), a 25-min nap opportunity (N25, 14:35-15:00) and a 90-min nap opportunity (N90, 13:30-15:00). Nighttime sleep following each condition was assessed at home via wrist actigraphy measuring bedtime, wake time, total sleep time, time in bed, wake after sleep onset (WASO) and sleep stages. Neither N25 nor N90 opportunity negatively affected the following night's sleep compared to the NN condition, including bedtime, wake time, WASO, total sleep time, light sleep, deep sleep and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep (p > 0.05 for all). Mean total sleep time was 7 h 13 min after NN, 7 h 5 min after N25 and 7 h 1 min after N90. In student athletes, afternoon nap opportunities of either 25 or 90 min, when ending at 15:00, did not disrupt subsequent nighttime sleep. These findings suggest that a strategically timed early afternoon nap may be a viable recovery option for this population. While individual differences in sleep need and academic demands should be considered, these results highlight the potential of well-timed naps to support athlete recovery. Future research is needed to determine whether these effects generalise to other populations or nap timings.