EFFECTS OF TRAINING VOLUME ON SLEEP, PSYCHOLOGICAL, AND SELECTED PHYSIOLOGICAL PROFILES OF ELITE FEMALE SWIMMERS

Excessive training is reported to cause sleep disturbances and mood ch anges. We examined sleep and psychological changes in female swimmers across a competitive swimming season, that is, at the start of the sea son (onset), during peak training period (peak), and after a precompet ition reduction in training (taper). For each phase, polysomnographic recordings, body composition, psychological parameters, and swimming p erformance were obtained. A daily training log and sleep diary were ma intained for the entire study period. Sleep onset latency (SOL), time awake after sleep onset, total sleep time (TST), and rapid eye movemen t (REM) sleep times were similar at all three training levels. Slow wa ve sleep (SWS) formed a very high percentage of total sleep in the ons et (26%) and peak (31%) training periods, bur was significantly reduce d following precompetition taper (16%), supporting the theory that the need for restorative SWS is reduced with reduced physical demand. The number of movements during sleep was significantly higher at the high er training volumes, suggesting some sleep disruption. in contrast to other studies, mood deteriorated with a reduction in training volume a nd/or impending competition.