Effects of long-haul transmeridian travel on player preparedness: Case study of a national team at the 2014 FIFA World Cup

Jan 23, 2017Journal of science and medicine in sport

How long-distance time zone travel affects player readiness: A case study of a national team at the 2014 FIFA World Cup

AI simplified

Circadian Biology on OpenScience ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗

Abstract

Perceived jet-lag significantly increased from Pre to Post 1 to 4 after a 19-hour flight across 11 time zones.

Self-reported sleep duration during travel averaged 5.9 hours, significantly lower than all other nights except for the night of arrival.
Jet-lag symptoms were significantly greater on the day after arrival compared to five days later.
Mean wellness scores were significantly lower in the week following travel compared to the week prior.
Increased jet-lag and sleep disruption may impair player preparedness for training and competition.

AI simplified

OBJECTIVES: Describe the effects of eastward long-haul transmeridian air travel on subjective jet-lag, sleep and wellness in professional football (soccer) players prior to the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

DESIGN: Single cohort involving twenty-two male professional football players representing a national football team.

METHODS: Data was collected from players prior to and following international travel from Sydney, Australia to Vitoria, Brazil. In total there were three flights, 19-h and 14,695km of travel east across 11 time-zones. Training load and wellness measures were obtained in the week prior to and following travel, whilst sleep and jet-lag measures were collected on the day prior to travel (Pre), the day of arrival and for five days following travel (Post 1-5).

RESULTS: Compared to Pre, perceived jet-lag was significantly increased on Post 1 to 4, with significantly greater levels on Post 1 compared to Post 5 (p<0.05). Self-reported sleep duration during travel was 5.9 (4.8-7.0) h, which was significantly lower than all other nights (p˂0.01), except for the night of arrival, where time in bed and sleep duration were significantly reduced compared to Post 1-4 (p˂0.01). Lastly, compared to the week prior to travel, mean wellness was significantly reduced during the week following travel (p˂0.01).

CONCLUSIONS: Self-reported sleep disruption during and following eastward long-haul transmeridian air travel, together with exacerbated jet-lag symptoms may result in reduced player wellness. Consequently, player preparedness for subsequent training and competition may be impeded, though physical performance data is lacking.

Full Text

Full text is available at the source.

View full text ↗View full text (XML) ↗

Effects of long-haul transmeridian travel on player preparedness: Case study of a national team at the 2014 FIFA World Cup

Abstract

Full Text

You found one interesting study. We’ll send the next 7.

what lands in your inbox each week:

Recent issues from the circadian biology brief

Abstract

Full Text

Related papers

You found one interesting study. We’ll send the next 7.

what lands in your inbox each week:

Recent issues from the circadian biology brief