Optimizing Athletic Recovery—The Importance of Sleep (Part 1)

One of the most important aspects of athletic performance is something we all do for a third of our lives, but until recently, had rarely been discussed. In the first of this two-part episode, Krys Bigosinski, MD and Cindy Chang, MD converse about the role of sleep in sports medicine. They cover topics including the role of sleep in sports performance, the challenges of travel for the elite athlete, the impact of a busy schedule on sleep for collegiate athletes, and the role of sleep in concussion care.

Dr. Chang is currently a Clinical Professor in the Departments of Orthopaedics and Family & Community Medicine at UCSF. Prior to this, she has served as president of AMSSM, was the head team physician for UC-Berkeley, and has published many papers and textbook chapters in sports medicine, including co-authoring a chapter titled The Role of Sleep in the Psychological Well Being of Athletes in the book Mental Health in the Athlete: Modern Perspectives and Novel Challenges For The Sports Medicine Provider. She was also active in writing the section on the effect of sleep on mental health in the upcoming AMSSM position statement on Psychological Issues in Athletes.