For students, powernaps are an important way to catch up on lost sleep. For top sporters, it is a way to recover after training or prepare for an upcoming match. In the upcoming four years, Radboud University researchers are going to research the effects of short naps on sports performance.

The research project is initiated by national sports organisation NOC*NSF and matrass company M line, together with Radboud University. The project is called ‘Sleep for gold’. The researchers want to know if sporters benefit from powernaps, and if so, at what time of day it is best to sleep. In a video about the project, published by NOC*NSF, Radboud researcher Arne Nieuwenhuys says that this research is important, because it will help giving better advice to sporters about sleep. After that, the outcome might also be used to help people with work and study.

The research focusses on various questions. One of the things the researchers will be looking at is the current proof for the effectiveness of powernaps on performances, and the way sporters use it. After that, the balance between night sleep and powernapping, as well as the optimal length and timing of a nap come into focus.

The project is embedded in a wider project involving sleep and sports, in which Radboud University and NOC*NSF work together.