What you need to know about a pre-training nap won't make you stronger — but it will make training feel easier
## A Pre-Training Nap Won't Make You Stronger — But It Will Make Training Feel Easier Athletes often nap before competition hoping to boost performance. A new analysis of 35 studies with nearly 500 active people reveals what naps actually do — and it's not what you'd expect. **Bottom line:...
## A Pre-Training Nap Won't Make You Stronger — But It Will Make Training Feel Easier
Athletes often nap before competition hoping to boost performance. A new analysis of 35 studies with nearly 500 active people reveals what naps actually do — and it's not what you'd expect.
**Bottom line: Strategic naps reduce perceived effort and boost recovery feelings, but the effects are psychological, not physical.**
## What the Science Found
Researchers combined 35 studies of 489 athletes and active individuals who napped after getting normal sleep the night before. The results were striking: naps dramatically reduced how hard exercise felt during training (a very large effect) and after training (another large effect). People also reported feeling significantly more recovered.
But here's what didn't change: heart rate, body temperature, muscle soreness — all the physical measures stayed the same.
The evidence quality was rated low-to-very-low for most outcomes, meaning we should take these findings with a grain of salt. Interestingly, when researchers looked at sleep-deprived athletes, naps didn't help at all.