April 28, 2021

Why Sleep is so Important for Athletes and Successful Training from Sleep Expert Dr. Amy Bender

Ep 19: Why Sleep is so Important for Athletes and Successful Training from Sleep Expert Dr. Amy Bender

Today our guest is Dr. Amy Bender, a sleep expert and Senior Research Scientist at Calgary Counselling Centre, as well as an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Kinesiology at the University of Calgary.

Dr. Bender has helped develop the only validated sleep screening tool for athletes and has implemented sleep optimization strategies for numerous Canadian Olympic and professional teams. She’s also a former college basketball athlete and completed an Ironman in 2009, os she approaches her work with an athlete’s lens.

During this episode, we discuss:

Why sleep is so important for athletes
How it helps in so many different facets of our life and training
Exactly how much sleep athletes need
The not so well known importance of naps
What supplements help with sleep
If diet plays a role in sleep and if sleep plays a role in our diets
Why if you’re in a sleep deprived time of your life, aka a new parent, it’s probably not a good idea to take on a new training cycle and how that can affect your training

Connect with Dr. Bender: