Sport Psychology Tactics - Energy Management & Coffee Naps
About the Author
Ben Foodman is a licensed psychotherapist & performance specialist. He owns his private practice located in Charlotte North Carolina where he specializes in working with athletes to help them overcome mental blocks (the yips), PTSD, ADD / ADHD and achieve flow states through the techniques of Brainspotting & Neurofeedback. If you are interested in services, use the link here! Enjoy the article below!
Introduction: Athletes, Coffee & Energy Management
Elite athletes have found inventive ways to help condition their bodies to increase in strength, speed, endurance, and their overall athleticism. However, many people would surprised to discover that many high level athletes do not always put the same intensity into being able to develop coping skills to help reduce their overall stress levels. Like many of us, elite athletes make the common mistake of thinking that stress outside of sport performance does not have an impact on their overall talent. One area I try to focus on in order to help athletes with stress management is to develop skills and strategies to enhance their energy management capabilities.
For this Training Report I want to discuss why athletes need to invest more time into developing their energy management skills and how they can do this. We will first start off by defining what energy management is and the importance of knowing your body’s energy management capabilities. We will then explore strategies that can be employed to enhance energy output such as a coffee nap. We will review the pros & cons of coffee naps, how sleep plays a critical role in this process, and what the best strategies are for implementing the coffee nap into daily training regimens. Let’s start off by diving into the concept of energy management and self-awareness of one’s body.
Part I. Understanding Athlete Energy & Rhythm
First, we need to define what energy is. Energy from a physics perspective can be defined as ‘the quantitative property that must be transferred to a body or physical system to perform work on the body, or to heat it. Energy is a conserved quantity; the law of conservation of energy states that energy can be converted in form, but not created or destroyed’. One of the ways humans do this from both a physical and psychological level is by creating ATP through consumption of resources in order to create action. Now, when defining energy management this can be considered to be the ability for an individual to both accurately assess both their psychological and physical energy capabilities, and appropriately allocate those energy reserves based on the demands of their day. For many of the athletes I have had the privilege to work with, this is one of the skills that they need to develop the most. Part of the reason for this is that most people fail to consider how the resource demands from one’s personal life extract energy capabilities that could be used for sport performance.
One way to think of this is to consider the energy demands that are required throughout one’s day. Usually this can be broken up into four different categories: psychological energy (planning one’s day, dealing with the stress of interpersonal relationships, etc.); social energy (interacting with large groups of people, functioning with certain team dynamics, etc.); physical energy (exercise and/or training, how well you slept, etc.); and existential energy (investment in one’s spirituality, concern for one’s existence in the universe, satisfaction with life direction, etc.). When examining all of these different categories, there is no doubt that a certain amount of energy consumption is required no matter how minimal the topic may be. Therefore, athletes need to start thinking in a broader picture when distributing energy throughout their daily activities. There are many different strategies one could use, but I want to take the time to focus on one: coffee.
Part II. Coffee & Sports
Caffeine is arguably one of the most widely used substances across the planet. Specifically, many people consume caffeine in the form of coffee. While there are many subjective reasons as to why people would consume coffee, one common reason is the effect that coffee can have in terms of offsetting poor sleep quality results. I have previously discussed this in some of the earlier Series 2 Training Reports but to recap, as soon as individuals wake up from sleep they begin building up adenosine in their brain. As adenosine buildup increases throughout the day, so does the desire to sleep. This buildup of adenosine and sleepiness has been labeled as sleep pressure. Once an individual falls asleep, offloading adenosine is one of the many critical functions that occurs during sleep. However, if one does not sleep well the night before than the quantity of adenosine will still remain high when an individual wakes up from sleep. This is where coffee comes into play.
When we consume coffee, the caffeine molecule binds to receptor sites preventing adenosine molecules from binding to those same sites. Thus, we are given the sensation of remaining awake and offsetting sleep pressure. The only problem with this is that we still have a sleep debt that must be paid off, and the underestimated half-life for caffeine helps keep the molecule in play, but prevents us from achieving high quality sleep performance. Since sleep is such a critical function within energy management athletes have to honestly assess whether coffee consumption is truly the answer to improving energy management skills. But for arguments sake, let’s assume that athletes overall have a strong commitment towards high quality sleep and need just a slight energy boost. The timing and procedures for ingesting coffee can either significantly enhance or detract from the benefits of coffee. Let’s explore one strategy that seems to have positive effects: coffee naps.
Part III. Athletes, Peak Performance & Coffee Naps
Experts within health and human performance have different approaches towards taking a coffee nap, but from my work with athletes and collaborating with these professionals, there appears to be efficient and common strategies that many individuals can employ. First, assess the quality of sleep that was achieved the night before. If athletes feel they achieved satisfactory sleep performance, then they will most likely get better results from this procedure, those that don’t should consider postponing using this intervention and re-evaluating their upcoming sleep performance. Second, identify the time and place that would be best to take a nap. It has been recommended that a 15-20 minute nap is an ideal time frame to achieve, and individuals should consider napping anywhere but their primary location of sleep. Finally, right before napping athletes should consume one cup of coffee and commence with sleep while also setting an alarm.
Research seems to suggest that a synergistic effect takes place with the combination of both waking up from the nap, while your body oxidizes the caffeine during napping. One cup of coffee may not seem like much, but combining it with a nap will enhance the results. Thus, athletes will not only feel more energized but will also most likely not need to consume excessive amounts of caffeine throughout the day. These guidelines are generic and no doubt there are individuals who may not have the same positive experience of a coffee nap that other individuals do. There are many subjective variables that need to be considered before engaging in this process but assuming that individuals have developed strong sleep performance routines, this energy boosting process can potentially help provide a slight edge for those looking for an extra bump throughout their day.
Note To Reader:
If you are an athlete reading this segment of the TRAINING REPORT, hopefully this content was helpful! I put the Training Report together because I felt like many of the discussions on issues such as the Yips/mental blocks, strength training & other subject matter on athlete performance concepts were really missing the mark on these ideas (e.g. how trauma is the direct cause of the Yips). If you are interested in learning more, make sure to subscribe below for when I put out new content on issues related to sport psychology & athlete performance! Also, if you are looking to work with a mental performance specialist, you are in the right place! USE THIS LINK to reach out to me to see if my services are the right fit for your goals!
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