Nap for health & performance
Take a 30-minute nap before 3 p.m. to feel more alert and improve cognitive performance. If you have time to take a short nap, you’ll see benefits whether you had poor sleep or great sleep the night prior.
Getting enough quality sleep at night should always be your first priority–don’t use naps as a substitute for not getting enough sleep.
Whether you had great sleep or poor sleep, a 30-minute afternoon nap improves cognitive performance and memory.
If you had limited sleep, poor sleep quality or both the night prior, you’ll benefit from a 30-minute nap even more.
A short afternoon nap before 3 p.m. has been shown to increase recovery, improve physical performance, and decrease feelings of fatigue in athletes whether they had sufficient or insufficient sleep the night prior.
Wear an eye mask and ear plugs to help you get a nap in any environment.
Avoid longer naps and naps later in the afternoon. They may reduce sleep pressure which can lead to lower quality, fragmented sleep at night.
Frequently taking longer naps later in the day has been shown to negatively influence body composition, blood pressure and cognitive performance.
Want to learn more? Check out these studies: