The Travel Demands of an Elite Rugby Sevens Team: Effects on Objective and Subjective Sleep Parameters
in International Journal of Sports Physiology and PerformanceClick name to view affiliation
Purpose: To explore the effects of travel related to international rugby sevens competition on sleep patterns. Methods: A total of 17 international male rugby sevens players participated in this study. Actigraphic and subjective sleep assessments were performed daily during 2 separate Sevens World Series competition legs (Oceania and America). The duration of each competition leg was subdivided into key periods (pretour, precompetition, tournament 1, relocation, tournament 2, and posttour) lasting 2 to 7 nights. Linear mixed models in combination with magnitude-based decisions were used to assess (1) the difference between preseason and key periods and (2) the effect of travel direction (eastward or westward). Results: Shorter total sleep time (hours:minutes) was observed during tournament 2 (mean [SD], 06:16 [01:08]), relocation (06:09 [01:09]), and the pretour week (06:34 [01:24]) compared with the preseason (06:52 [01:00]). Worse sleep quality (arbitrary units) was observed during tournament 1 (6.1 [2.0]) and 2 (5.7 [1.2]), as well as during the relocation week (6.3 [1.5]) than during the preseason (6.5 [1.8]). When traveling eastward compared with westward, earlier fall-asleep time was observed during tournament 1 (ES − 0.57; 90% CI, −1.12 to −0.01), the relocation week (−0.70 [−1.11 to −0.28]), and the posttour (−0.57 [−0.95 to −0.18]). However, possibly trivial and unclear differences were observed during the precompetition week (0.15 [−0.15 to 0.45]) and tournament 2 (0.81 [−0.29 to 1.91]). Conclusion: The sleep patterns of elite rugby sevens players are robust to the effects of long-haul travel and jet lag. However, the staff should consider promoting sleep during the tournament and relocation week.
Leduc, Tee, and Jones are with the Carnegie Applied Rugby Research (CARR) Centre, Carnegie School of Sport, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, United Kingdom. Leduc, Robineau, Cheradame, and Piscione are with the Research Dept, French Rugby Federation (FFR), Marcoussis, France. Jones is also with the Leeds Rhinos Rugby League Club, Leeds, United Kingdom; England Performance Unit, The Rugby Football League, Leeds, United Kingdom; School of Science and Technology, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, Australia; and the Div of Exercise Science and Sports Medicine, Dept of Human Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Sports Science Inst of South Africa, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa. Lacome is with the Performance Dept, Paris Saint-Germain FC, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France; and the Laboratory of Sport, Expertise and Performance (EA 7370), French National Inst of Sport (INSEP), Paris, France. Tee is also with the Dept of Sport Studies, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa.
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