Travel fatigue and sleep/wake behaviors of professional soccer players during international competition

doi:10.1016/j.sleh.2018.10.013

Sleep Health

Volume 5, Issue 2, April 2019, Pages 141-147

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleh.2018.10.013 Get rights and content

Abstract

Objective

The magnitude of travel completed by professional Australian soccer teams during domestic competition is substantial. The inclusion of Australian soccer teams into the Asian Champions league has seen additional stress placed on soccer players' training and competition schedules. For management staff, the complexity of organizing training and travel schedules during domestic competition and the Asian Champions league is challenging.

Design

Case study.

Participants

Seven male professional soccer players (mean ± SD: age 25.2 ± 3.2 years, height 182.8 ± 5.2 cm, body mass 84.6 ± 7.4 kg).

Measurements

This study examined the sleep and fatigue levels of Australian soccer players during an intensive home and away travel schedule during the Asian Champions league. Seven male professional soccer players’ (mean ± SD: age 25.2 ± 3.2 years, height 182.8 ± 5.2 cm, body mass 84.6 ± 7.4 kg) sleep/wake behavior was assessed using sleep diaries and wrist activity monitors for 19 days, including 9 days before, 5 days during, and 4 days after a home and away group stage match of the Asian Champions league. Analyses examined differences in sleep/wake behavior and fatigue levels between day type (training day, rest day, pregame, and postgame) and between sleep location (Adelaide, during flight, and Hiroshima).

Results

Sleep/wake behavior and fatigue levels were poorest the night immediately after games compared to the night before games, training days, and rest days. Soccer players' sleep/wake behaviors were disrupted during flights such that they obtained 3.6 hours less sleep during flights compared to sleep in Adelaide (7.0 ± 1.6 hours) and Hiroshima (7.0 ± 2.1 hours).

Conclusion

The sleep/wake behaviors of professional soccer players are compromised when they are required to travel and compete in multiple matches within a short period of time.

Introduction

Since the inclusion of Australia into the Asian Football Confederation, Australian A-League teams are able to qualify and compete in the Asian Champions League. The Asian Champions League is a premier club tournament in Asia where a total of 32 professional soccer clubs compete in the competition. In Australia, the Asian Champions League schedule coincides with the domestic competition. This places additional stress on professional soccer players' training and competition schedules. Therefore, the planning of travel, the management of training, recovery, and domestic competition is critical.

Australian domestic teams are required to travel to all parts of Asia to compete in the Asian Champions League. Although this represents between 2 and 3 clubs per Asian Champions League campaign, it becomes particularly relevant for these teams toward the end of season where matches may be deemed more important when compared to the beginning of the domestic season. In some circumstances, teams are required to travel long distances across multiple time zones (eg, long-haul transmeridian travel), whereas in other circumstances, teams travel long distances with minimal time zone disruption (eg, long-haul travel). There are also some circumstances where teams travel shorter distances (eg, short-haul travel, <5 hours) with minimal to no time zone disruption.

Short-haul air travel for away matches is common for soccer teams during the season.¹ The effects of short-haul air-travel (<5 hours) on performance and physiological responses are equivocal2, 3, 4; no differences have been identified for strength, power, or objective sleep quality before and after short-haul air travel.3, 4, 5 On the contrary, the adverse effects of long-haul transmeridian travel in elite athletes are well established.6, 7, 8 Following transmeridian travel, athletes experience jet lag, which manifests itself in symptoms of fatigue, insomnia, daytime sleepiness, and impaired alertness.2, 9 This is typically a result of the misalignment between the internal body clock and the external environment.¹⁰

In circumstances where minimal or no change in time zones occur, athletes may experience travel fatigue. Travel fatigue may be a result of being in a confined space for a long period of time, with restricted movement, and exposure to dry air possibly causing dehydration. Consequently, athletes may have difficulty sleeping during their flights and arrive at their destination in a fatigued and sleep deprived state.¹¹

The magnitude of travel completed by professional soccer teams during a season is substaintial. For example, during the competitive season, soccer teams are required to travel 26 times (including outbound and return travel), traveling up to 3500 km during each flight.¹² For soccer teams competing in the Asian Champions League, the traveling distance may increase up to 11,035 km per flight and may be further broken up into multiple flights and/or bus and train trips. Consequently, the complexity of organizing professional soccer players training and travel schedules during the Asian Champions League competition is challenging. The purpose of the present study is to examine the sleep and fatigue levels of soccer players during an intensive home and away travel schedule during Australian domestic season and the Asian Champions League.

Section snippets

Participants

Originally, 10 soccer players were recruited to participate; however, 3 data sets were incomplete because of injury and final squad selection. Seven male professional soccer players (mean ± SD: age 25.2 ± 3.2 years, height 182.8 ± 5.2 cm, body mass 84.6 ± 7.4 kg) representing a team competing in the Asian Champions League volunteered to participate in the study. Prior to data collection, participants provided written informed consent. This study was approved by the human research ethics

Sleep/wake behavior

On average during training and rest days in all locations, participants went to bed at 23:38 ± 01:00, took 10.2 ± 13.2 minutes to fall asleep, spent 8.6 ± 1.6 hours in bed, obtained 7.2 ± 1.5 hours of sleep, and got up at 08:35 ± 01:29. Sleep efficiency was 87.8% ± 4.3%, and participants rated their subjective sleep quality as “good” (1.9 ± 0.8 units). Participants reported feeling “moderately tired” before sleep (4.7 ± 0.9 units) and “somewhat fresh” after waking from sleep (2.9 ± 1.2 units).

Napping behavior

Discussion

The present study examined the sleep/wake behavior of professional soccer players during the 2010 Asian Champions League campaign. The 3 main findings were as follows: (1) soccer players slept more than 7 hours per night during a typical training week; (2) competitive matches resulted in considerably poorer sleep/wake behaviors compared to training and rest days; and (3) sleeping on flights caused significant disruptions to the timing and amount of sleep obtained by professional soccer players.

Conclusion

Professional soccer teams are often required to travel and compete in multiple matches within a short period of time. This presents 2 main challenges for professional soccer players and staff. The first challenge is associated with overcoming the negative effects of long-haul travel, layovers, and travel fatigue, whereas the second challenge involves recovering from the physical demands of competitive soccer matches. These factors resulted in significant disruptions to sleep/wake behavior in

Disclosure

The authors report no declarations of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank all the players and coaches who took part in the study.

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View full text

Travel fatigue and sleep/wake behaviors of professional soccer players during international competition

Abstract

Objective

Design

Participants

Measurements

Results

Conclusion

Introduction

Section snippets

Participants

Sleep/wake behavior

Napping behavior

Discussion

Conclusion

Disclosure

Acknowledgments

J Sci Med Sport

J Sci Med Sport

Sleep Med Clin

J Sports Sci Med

Effects of simulated domestic and international air travel on sleep, performance, and recovery for team sports

Scand J Med Sci Sports

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Eur J Sport Sci

Effects of domestic air travel on technical and tactical performance and recovery in soccer

Int J Sports Physiol Perform

Effects of northbound long-haul international air travel on sleep quantity and subjective jet lag and wellness in professional Australian soccer players

Int J Sports Physiol Perform

Chronobiological consequences of long haul flights, travel fatigue, and jet lag

Int J Sports Med

Sleep, travel, and recovery responses of national footballers during and after long-haul international air travel

Int J Sports Physiol Perform

Jet lag in athletes after eastward and westward time-zone transition

Chronobiol Int

Passenger Behaviour

Effects of regular away travel on training loads, recovery, and injury rates in professional Australian soccer players

Sleep Med Clin

The sleep of elite athletes at sea level and high altitude: a comparison of sea-level natives and high-altitude natives (ISA3600)

Br J Sports Med