The associations between acute and chronic sleep and aerobic capacity in adolescent female soccer players

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between acute, chronic, and acute:chronic sleep on aerobic performance in female youth soccer athletes. Fifty-nine female soccer players (13–18 years) reported prior night (acute) and average prior month (chronic) sleep duration before undergoing cycle ergometer testing to determine maximal aerobic capacity (VO_2max), time to exhaustion (T_max), and ventilatory threshold (VO_2VT). Variables were grouped by prior night and prior month sleep duration (< 8 h, ≥ 8 h) as well as acute:chronic sleep (< 1, ≥ 1) and compared between groups using least squares means from age-adjusted linear models. No statistically significant differences were identified between those participants who slept ≥ 8 h the prior night and those who slept < 8 h, with respect to VO_2max (50.3 ± 5.9 vs. 47.6 ± 5.9 ml/kg/min, p = 0.10, d = 0.45), T_max (15.7 ± 2.8 vs.14.9 ± 2.2 min, p = 0.17, d = 0.37), or VO_2VT (43.2 ± 5.4 vs. 40.7 ± 5.4 ml/kg/min, p = 0.09, d = 0.46). Participants who averaged ≥ 8 h of sleep in the prior month demonstrated significantly greater VO_2max (50.2 ± 5.7 vs. 45.4 ± 5.7 ml/kg/min, p = 0.023, d = 0.83) and VO_2VT (43.0 ± 5.2 vs. 39.0 ± 5.2 ml/kg/min, p = 0.016, d = 0.78), but not T_max (15.6 ± 2.2 vs. 14.8 ± 2.2 min, p = 0.24, d = 0.37). On the other hand, participants with higher acute:chronic sleep demonstrated greater T_max (16.4 ± 2.1 vs. 14.9 ± 2.1 min, p = 0.012, d = − 0.73), but not VO_2max (50.1 ± 6.0 vs. 48.7 ± 6.0 ml/kg/min, p = 0.38, d = − 0.25) or VO_2VT (42.7 ± 5.5 vs. 41.9 ± 5.5 ml/kg/min, p = 0.60, d = − 0.15). Greater chronic prior month sleep duration is associated with increased VO_2max and VO_2VT, while increased acute prior night sleep relative to the preceding month was associated with increased T_max.