Strategies Athletes Use to Cope with Sleep Disruptions That We Can Easily Implement

Many of us face similar conditions in our own work or study lives: physical exhaustion, mental overload, and disrupted schedules. Therefore, the research focused on finding practical approaches to help athletes sleep better under these conditions can be translated directly to our everyday life.

In this issue we explore the nutritional products and behavioral practices that have been tested on athletes, alongside the science of how each one works, so you can put those findings to use when sleep disruptions are unavoidable.

Nutritional interventions target sleep from the inside, primarily by supporting the body's own synthesis of serotonin and melatonin, the biochemical messengers that regulate sleep onset and depth.

A-LAC is a specific whey protein that carries the highest natural concentration of tryptophan of any food protein. Tryptophan is an essential amino acid that serves as the direct precursor to both serotonin and melatonin, two molecules central to the regulation of sleep. Consuming A-LAC increases the tryptophan that reaches the brain, driving the production of these sleep-inducing compounds.

A study on female team sport athletes, runners, and weightlifters tested a 50-gram drink mix containing 40 g of A-LAC whey protein powder, 6 g of sugar-free chocolate powder, and 4 g of stevia, consumed at least 2 hours before bedtime following late-night physical training. The results showed that even though total sleep time dropped for both the A-LAC supplemented group and the control group after a demanding session, athletes supplemented with A-LAC experienced significantly better sleep quality. NREM Stage 2 sleep — critical for motor learning rose from 199 to 212 minutes in the A-LAC group, while it fell in controls. Deep sleep (NREM Stage 3, vital for cellular repair) was similarly preserved in the supplemented group. Physical performance measured 14 hours after training was maintained, and sprint capacity at the 24-hour mark showed gains in the A-LAC group while the control group declined. Cognitive assessments further revealed that those in the A-LAC group reported considerably lower mental demand and effort throughout testing.

Kiwifruit contains a notable concentration of serotonin, antioxidants, and folate. Serotonin acts as a sleep-inducing agent, and folate deficiency has been specifically linked to insomnia. The antioxidant content may also reduce oxidative stress, a known disruptor of sleep architecture in athletes under high physical load.

A study in sailing and endurance athletes found that eating two kiwis one hour before bed for four weeks produced meaningful improvements across multiple sleep measures. Total sleep time extended from 7.6 to 8.55 hours, and the frequency of nightly awakenings was notably reduced. Sleep onset (how quickly participants fell asleep), also shortened, pointing to both faster entry into sleep and a more stable, uninterrupted night overall.

Tart cherries are among the few natural food sources of exogenous melatonin (melatonin that originates outside the body). They also carry high antioxidant capacity, which may support recovery and ease the inflammatory load that tends to fragment sleep quality in athletes under physical stress.

In a study of female hockey players, five doses of 30 mL of tart cherry juice over a 48-hour period, consumed morning and evening, extended total time in bed and reduced wake after sleep onset (WASO), a measure of how much time is spent awake after first falling asleep. The findings suggest that obtaining melatonin through food rather than supplementation can meaningfully support sleep continuity once it begins.

The gut microbiome plays a more direct role in sleep than once thought. Gut bacteria are involved in the production of key neurotransmitters, including GABA and serotonin. Beyond neurotransmitter synthesis, probiotic supplementation has been shown to reduce systemic inflammation, measured by C-reactive protein (CRP) levels, and reduce muscle soreness, both of which are primary inhibitors of sleep quality in athletes.

In professional male rugby players, daily use of a probiotic combination, the Ultrabiotic 60™ and SBFloractivit™ with 250 mg Saccharomyces boulardii for 17 weeks, was associated with improved sleep quality as muscle soreness scores declined over the intervention period. A separate study recorded a rise in sleep efficiency from 87.46% to 90.8% following probiotic use, reflecting a meaningful increase in the proportion of time in bed actually spent asleep.

Several micronutrients function as essential co-factors in the biochemical pathway connecting tryptophan to serotonin and melatonin. Vitamin B6 and folate are required to drive this conversion, and when their levels are insufficient, the entire chain is constrained. Zinc, vitamin B12, and iron each contribute through distinct mechanisms: zinc modulates GABA receptor activity; B12 participates in circadian rhythm regulation; and inadequate iron has been associated with restless leg symptoms that repeatedly interrupt sleep.

In female Australian Football League players, adequate circulating levels of zinc, vitamin B12, and iron were positively associated with higher sleep efficiency and less time spent awake during the night. These findings raise the possibility that, in both athletes and the general population, some sleep disruptions may reflect an underlying nutritional gap rather than a behavioral one.

Behavioral interventions work by managing the body's internal thermostat and reducing neurological stimulation, targeting the environmental and physiological cues that signal the brain it is time to sleep.

Sleep onset is physiologically triggered by a drop in core body temperature. This cooling process is facilitated by distal vasodilation, the redistribution of heat from the body's core toward the hands and feet, allowing it to dissipate. A warm shower manually warms the skin and extremities, effectively kickstarting this natural cooling cycle and accelerating the temperature drop that the brain associates with sleep.

Taking a 10-minute shower at approximately 40°C, 20 minutes before bed, helped athletes fall asleep 7 minutes faster and raised overall sleep efficiency by 2%.

Lavender essential oil has well-documented anxiolytic (anxiety-reducing) and sedative properties. Inhalation stimulates the limbic system, the brain's emotional processing center, and has been shown to interact with GABA receptors in the central nervous system, promoting a state of neurological calm. This is particularly relevant for athletes whose sleep is disrupted by pre-competition anxiety or post-competition arousal.

Inhaling two drops (0.14 mL) of lavender essential oil for 10 minutes before bed, when combined with sleep hygiene practices, significantly reduced subjective fatigue scores, the feeling of tiredness and tension  that precedes sleep in resistance-trained athletes.

Light is the most powerful external regulator of the circadian rhythm. Artificial light suppresses or encourages melatonin secretion depending on its wavelength. Blue and white light, emitted by screens and standard indoor lighting, suppress melatonin and signal wakefulness to the brain. Red light, in contrast, does not suppress melatonin and has been explored as a way to maintain or support the natural melatonin rise that precedes sleep.

Exposure to red light therapy for 30 minutes each night over 14 days produced significant improvements in both subjective sleep quality and sleep duration in athletes. This approach is particularly relevant following late-night competition, where athletes are routinely exposed to bright stadium lighting and screen time in the hours before they need to sleep.

Despite the variety of targeted nutritional and behavioral tools reviewed here, the intervention with the strongest and most consistent evidence for improving sleep in athletes is high awareness and implementation of sleep hygiene practices.
Maintaining good sleep hygiene practices carries the potential to improve total sleep time by up to 75% in some studies, and to reduce the time it takes to fall asleep by 37% compared to control groups. The most impactful recommendations center on limiting blue light and electronic exposure in the hour before bed and avoiding caffeine and alcohol in the evening. Athletes are especially aware of these practices because their performance directly depends on adherence to them. The same applies to anyone whose capacity, in work, study, or daily life, relies on cognitive function and physical energy.

A consistent sleep schedule and sufficient sleep duration remain the foundation of recovery. These are the most important targets to protect, and the ones most worth organizing life around. The nutritional and behavioral strategies explored throughout this issue serve a different purpose: they are tools for circumstances when that foundation is unavoidably disrupted, the late competition, the demanding deadline, the restless night that arrives without warning.

When those moments arrive, the evidence reviewed here offers practical, tested options. Whether it is the timing of a protein drink, a piece of fruit before bed, the temperature of an evening shower, or the color of the light in a room — each of these choices reflects a mechanism the body already uses, supported by scientific inquiry. They are worth knowing, and worth trying.

Protecting sleep is among the highest priorities the body has. Understanding the science behind it is the first step toward doing that well.