Abstract
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Sleeping and eating before and during an ultramarathon can directly affect an athlete’s
performance, who may also have their physiological adaptations and recovery process
hindered by sleeping problems. Endurance and ultra-endurance athletes may have different
sleep and nutrition profiles. Thus, this study aimed to describe the sleep profile
(during preparation) and nutritional profile (during competition) of endurance (10-20km)
and ultra-endurance (50-100km) running athletes. For this, 16 healthy volunteers answered
questionnaires related to sleep quality (Pittsburgh sleep quality index), chronotype
(morningness-eveningness questionnaire), and sleepiness (excessive daytime sleepiness
questionnaire). Immediately after a competition, a form prepared by the research team
about nutritional variables and volunteers’ food records during the competition was
applied. According to test scoring criteria (Pittsburgh sleep quality index >5; sleepiness
>10), endurance running athletes showed low sleep quality. In addition, all athletes
showed consumption of carbohydrates and lipids below the recommended, but excessive
consumption of proteins. A positive association between sleepiness and sodium intake
in endurance runners was observed (r=0.862; p=0.027). Sleep efficiency and race time showed a negative correlation only for ultra-endurance
athletes (r=-0.834; p=0.039). The data obtained show that endurance athletes presented more sleep pattern
alterations, however, endurance and ultra-endurance athletes showed inadequate nutritional
consumption during the competition.
Running -
Athletes -
Sleep -
Nutrition Personnel
Publication History
Received: 13 August 2021
Accepted: 25 March 2022
Article published online:
01 December 2023
© 2023. Brazilian Sleep Association. This is an open access article published by Thieme under
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or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
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Description
This study describes the sleep and nutritional profiles of endurance and ultra-endurance running athletes.