Sleep and Performance

Sleep is essential to achieve the best state of physical and mental health. Research suggests that sleep plays an essential role in learning, memory, mood and judgement. Sleep affects how you perform when you are awake; both your daily work and your athletic performance.

The amount of time you sleep as well as the quality of your sleep is important. If you are an athlete, it is even more important to regularly get a good night's sleep to allow your body to rest and recover between periods of exercise, as well as to decrease the risk of injury.

How much sleep is enough?

Adequate sleep is vital for your health, but can be hard to achieve when life is busy. Sleeping problems are common with up to 4 in 10 Australian adults not getting enough good quality sleep. Fortunately there are many things you can do to improve your sleep.

Most adults need about 8 hours of sleep per night. Children and Teenagers need more sleep than adults, while older people tend to sleep more lightly and for shorter time span.

What if you don't get enough sleep?

Not getting enough sleep can detrimentally affect your health. As well as impacting concentration and mood, lack of sleep has been linked to serious illnesses such as heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and even death.

In the short term, people who don't get adequate sleep, are more likely than others to have motor vehicle accidents and can lead to problems with productivity and safety in the workplace.

Common sleep disorders include insomnia, snoring and sleep apnoea; a breathing abnormality.

Sleep problems can affect your health, performance and safety, so if you are feeling sleep deprived or waking after adequate hours of sleep with fatigue, poor concentration and mood, see one of our expert team for a review of your current state of health and arrange a Sleep Assessment.

Dr Vivienne Brimelow

Chiropractor, Neuromuscular and Occupational Rehabilitation Specialist