Can Better Sleep Affect Your Athletic Performance?
Reviewed by
Monroe Elkin, BS PHARM., DMD
smile and comfort in mind
HOW BRUXISM AND TMJ CAN INTERRUPT SLEEP
All people need good sleep, but this can be especially essential for athletes. Whether you’re a student athlete, a professional, or just a weekend warrior, you need to sleep well to reach for your goals. And if you suffer from TMJ or bruxism, a good night’s sleep can be hard to come by. You may be woken several times per night with jaw or teeth pain related to jaw clenching or teeth grinding. That’s why we developed the CustMbite Nightguard with dental professionals. When you wear this sleep mouth guard, you are more likely to have a peaceful night of sleep without facing consequences due to jaw clenching or teeth grinding. Continue reading to see how important sleep is for athletes and how our CustMbite Nightguard can help.
HOW SLEEP IMPACTS ATHLETIC PERFORMANCE
Sleep affects many areas of athletic performance in ways you might not even think of. Sleep deprivation can cause problems in the following areas of your athletic performance:
- Muscle glycogen. If you train day after day, you need adequate daily restoration of your muscle glycogen stores, which happens over a full night of sleep.
- Motor function. A lack of sleep leads to impaired motor function, which can not only hinder your performance, but can lead to injuries that end your athletic career.
- Focus. Sports require you to focus on any number of things at once. Impaired sleep leads to a lower ability to focus on more than one thing at a time.
- Reaction times. Sports also require near-immediate reaction times. This is an asset to performance as well as an issue of safety.
- Illness rates. When you are sleep deprived, your immunity to even common illnesses such as colds and the flu is decreased. When you miss practice and play because you are sick, your athletic career can suffer.
- Stress regulation. Sleep is essential to the regulation of stress. If you’re well rested, you can start fresh each day because your sleeping brain deals with the worries of the day and puts things into a more realistic perspective. This can help you cope with the stress involved in sports.
- Muscle recovery. When you use your muscles in a sport, whether team or solitary, little tears form. You need good sleep in order for those tears to repair and build up more solid, strong muscle.
- Unwanted weight gain. Two substances, ghrelin and leptin, affect your hunger. Leptin suppresses hunger. Ghrelin tells your body you need to eat, and often that you need to eat high-calorie, high-fat, unhealthy foods. If you don’t sleep enough, ghrelin levels increase and leptin levels decrease, causing you to make the kinds of choices that lead to unwanted weight gain.
- Motivation. Simply put, it’s difficult to maintain the motivation it takes to keep a winning mindset when you are continually dragging around tired from not getting enough sleep.
- Sprint performance. A lack of sleep can be especially noticeable when short-term bursts of speed and energy are called for. The fatigue from sleep deprivation can make it impossible for you to give that extra bit of yourself when needed.
- Learning and memory. You need to learn the best plays, the signals, and the best ways to beat specific opponents. When your mind is muddled due to fatigue, it’s much more difficult to learn. This can also be a problem if you are in school sports, because poor classroom performance can get you sidelined until you can get your grades up to an acceptable level.
HOW THE CUSTMBITE NIGHTGUARD CAN PROVIDE BETTER SLEEP
To keep from losing sleep due to bruxism or TMJ, athletes can use a mouthguard for sleep. These are similar to mouthguards for sports, except their purpose is to protect you from grinding your teeth or clenching your jaw at night. Our mouthguard is made with our patented VistaMaxx material, which is thin and strong, yet gentle enough to provide a soft cushion for your teeth. They’re easy to mold to your specific teeth. All you need is a microwave, a glass of cold water, and a couple of minutes, and you’ll have custom-molded nightguards for your teeth. If you’re having dental work done, don’t worry, because you can remold the nightguards as easily as you can mold them in the first place, as many times as you need to.
Order your CustMbite Nightguard now and see the difference for yourself. You don’t have to spend a lot of effort to customize your mouthguard, and cleaning it is as easy as tossing it in the dishwasher and running it through with your dishes. You can also use our All Natural Oral Appliance Cleaner for added convenience, whether you're cleaning your nightguard, retainer, dentures, or any other oral appliance. It comes in a handy case that will keep the trays from getting lost among the plates and silverware. Athletes need good sleep, so get our comfortable sleep mouth guard now.
$49.95
Your comfort is our highest priority.
Sleep comfortably with CustMbite. Bruxism and TMJ disorder, both often caused by teeth grinding or clenching during sleep, can cause many problems, including jaw discomfort, headaches, and sleep disruption.
With CustMbite, you can rest assured knowing that our nightguard was created specifically with your comfort in mind. Our patented Vistamaxx™ material will provide a snug and secure fit to your teeth, so not only will they be protected from grinding and clenching, you'll also sleep comfortable every night.
