Although high-quality sleep has long been linked to better athletic performance, getting a decent night’s kip can be more of a dream than a reality for many runners. Even when you do things ‘correctly’, like establish beneficial bedtime habits, make your bedroom as sleep-friendly as possible and avoid consuming certain foods and drink before you put your head on the pillow, you can still struggle to bank adequate sleep.
But there is a light at the end of that dark, sleepless tunnel. According to new research published in the journal Brain Sciences, there is a simple hack that you can try when faced with a training run – or even a race – after a bad night’s sleep. The proposed solution? A cognitive warm-up.
What did the research involve?
Researchers looked at two studies related to mental fatigue and sleep challenges and how they played a role in subsequent activity.
In the first study, researchers assessed the performance of 31 padel players across different scenarios – for example, when they were well rested and when they had experienced sleep deprivation, which they defined as getting about 60% less sleep than the typical duration. (This could mean, say, three versus seven hours of sleep). In the latter scenario, researchers implemented both physical tasks – like brisk walking and bicep curls – and cognitive tasks in pre-exercise warm-ups.
For the second study, 32 older adults did similar warm-ups that combined cognitive tasks of different durations – lasting two to five minutes – with simple physical efforts like arm curls, sit-stand exercises and walking.
What did the researchers discover?
In both studies, sleep deprivation increased mental fatigue and impaired performance. However, the use of a warm-up that mixed physical activity with some mental engagement led to better reaction time and more motivation among participants.
According to Christopher Ring, the study’s co-author and a professor of psychology at the School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Birmingham, adding cognitive drills provided more benefits than doing physical warm-ups only.
‘Movement is organised and orchestrated by the brain,’ says Ring. ‘Cognition, especially higher order executive functions, is a key process in the control of movement during exercise and sport performance. Cognitive drills can activate the central nervous system so that you are optimally primed for your run.’
In both studies, participants completed short cognitive involving what’s called the Stroop colour-word task. This test involves naming the colour of the ink that a word is printed in, rather than the word itself. For example, the word ‘orange’ might be written in blue ink, so the correct answer when reading it is ‘blue’. Although this may seem like an easy task, reading is an automatic and very practiced skill, so naming colours in this way requires more attention, processing speed and working memory than simply reading a word on its own.
As Ring notes, drills like the Stroop colour-word task fire up the central nervous system in a way that enhances cognition. In turn, this makes it easier for your brain to send signals related to movement to your body, like Race time predictor and training pace calculator Best Garmin deals optimised Race time predictor and training pace calculator running form, What is a fartlek run and how can it boost speed.
The cognition boost can assist your attention span, too, which helps with bodily awareness when you hit your stride.
‘Even for athletes who aren’t sleep deprived, doing short-to-medium cognitive tasks during warm-ups have been shown to improve sport and exercise performance,’ continues Ring. ‘Because of that, it’s recommended that all athletes add tasks like these to their warm-up routine.’
How to warm up your brain before a run
This research used a specific app called SOMA-NPT, which was designed to enable coaches and athletes to track mental fatigue and provide cognitive tasks that address specific aspects of brain function like reaction time, attention and task accuracy.
However, you may be able to put together your own cognitive warm-up drills by experimenting with different tools, says sports psychologist and certified mental performance consultant Shameema Yousuf, who founded Empower2Perform in the UK. Although she was not involved with the recent research, Yousuf is familiar with studies linking sleep issues with poor athletic performance.
‘There’s no doubt that when we’re deprived of sleep, we tend not to perform at our best mentally and physically because the energy isn’t there,’ she says. ‘That can show up differently from runner to runner, though. One person may have a slower reaction time, for instance, so it’s harder to go at the speed you want. Another may feel distracted and that can lead to not checking in with your body while you run, potentially increasing your risk of injury.’
Doing games or puzzles that challenge your mental capacity can be a useful starting point, she adds. For example, doing a crossword or word game may help with focus. You can even do these while foam rolling or stretching, which means that you can both physically and mentally prepare for your next workout.
You can also employ running-specific cognitive drills to help you prepare for a run. That might include doing a physical warm-up while visualising the route ahead – if it’s a familiar road, for instance, you can create notable progress markers like road signs, certain buildings or even street lamps along the way.
‘Going through the route in your mind is a way to create anticipation and break up the run into different segments,’ says Yousuf. ‘That gives you a sense of accomplishment throughout the run that can keep you alert and engaged.’
She adds that revisiting goals, focusing on positive self-talk, listening to motivating music and doing a few minutes of meditation before a run can all offer other cognitive drills that prepare the mind for training or racing.
‘Much like a physical warm-up, where you do some trial and error to see what works best for you, cognitive strategies need to be personalised,’ says Yousuf. ‘You need to build your own toolbox for a more tactical approach. It’s helpful to start playing around with some of these tactics before you’re sleep deprived, so that you know what works on those days when you need them most.’
