The University of Oregon: where institutional pride and athletic prowess converge. At the heart of UO, a vibrant lust for sports entertainment captivates the lives of students itching for college gameday.
Athletes are modern-day alchemists, transforming effort into excellence with each well-timed rest. The margin for error is razor-thin. As a D1 lacrosse player at UO, my routine is calculated down to the speed, exertion and force metrics we track with GPS technology.
Sleep is more than a nightly pause; it’s a strategic component of our execution. The body repairs, the mind refocuses and the spirit strengthens. For active individuals, meeting the demands of sport hinges on quality of sleep, which prevents sickness, boosts cardiovascular health and sharpens memory. All propitious components for a balanced student life.
This topic was a selfishly inspired let-me-force-myself-to-read-up-on-the-scientific-benefits-of-sleep wakeup call. At first, I was trying to eat healthier. Overnight, my infatuation with holistic health led me to fear BPA-laden receipts. The endocrine-disrupting chemical, Bisphenol A, is commonly found in thermal paper used for receipts, with adverse health effects linked to prenatal behavioral abnormalities and reproductive system issues. This isn’t to scare you, but it is meant to inform you of the benefits of proper sleep, athlete or not.
My universal, “I just got here, I’m still figuring it out,” is losing its luster. It’s been nearly two months, and I am happily ensconced in my cottage-esque home with my two wonderful roommates, but there’s still one thing missing: a good night’s sleep.
As a graduate transfer student, I was enthralled by the wealth of resources available within Oregon Athletics. I referred to a teammate, Cassidy Eckert, a fifth-year lacrosse player who ran me through her self-care habits to ensure a quality night’s rest for class and practice.
“[Our dietician] Lisa is great about getting us melatonin and other probiotics that will help us fall asleep, like tart cherry juice for recovery,” Eckert said, emphatically.
As studies have shown, sleep deprivation “affects memory by reducing encoding when it precedes learning and impairs consolidation of memory traces when it occurs after learning.”
I’ve unapologetically taken a page from Andrew Huberman’s book on the guidelines for a proper, succinct sleep routine. One of his takeaways that I adhere to religiously is reducing blue-light intake throughout the day.
My phone screen is blue-light blocking, I use blue-light glasses every time I open my laptop and, if I’m creeping on my computer at night, I’ll switch my display settings to red light. Call it overkill, but I find it helpful, especially as someone who suffers from chronic migraines. Blue light is ubiquitous and inevitable for UO students; it’s the first glow that welcomes you each morning, illuminating your studies throughout the day and tucking you in at night after you’ve maxed out your TikTok scroll.
A study on sleep quality among university students demonstrated how students who accessed electronic devices within two hours before bedtime experienced poorer sleep quality. The short-wavelength light (blue light) is known to hinder melatonin production, trigger acute alertness, disrupt circadian rhythms and alter sleep time.
So, after scootering to and from the fields, attending lectures and office hours with professors, lifting, practicing and allocating much-needed time for self-care and homework, my nightcap ensues. One hundred seventy-five mg of magnesium glycinate, 8 oz of tart cherry mixed with coconut water and a dash of mineral salt, a clean face and silk bed sheets.
Call it the unsung hero of sport, sleep is the cornerstone of any discipline.
