Every athlete is looking for an edge. You put in the hours at training, pay attention to nutrition, and commit to recovery routines. But there’s one performance factor that often gets overlooked: sleep quality.
Good sleep is imperative to physical performance, mental sharpness and injury prevention.
Most elite athletes understand the importance of getting enough hours of sleep and keeping a regular sleep cycle, but may overlook the possibility that they are being held back by a sleep disorder, such as obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA).
Because OSA is often linked in people’s minds with older, heavier adults, younger, fit people can easily slip through the cracks in screening.
In reality, even athletes with strong fitness levels and lean body types can develop OSA, but their symptoms may be dismissed or misattributed to training load, stress, or lifestyle.
This means a sleep disorder that’s genuinely affecting recovery and performance can go undetected unless it’s specifically looked for.
What is Sleep Apnoea?
Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is a sleep disorder where the airway narrows and either partially or fully collapses during sleep.
This can cause shallow breathing (hypopnoeas) or complete pauses (apnoeas), often leading to drops in oxygen levels and brief awakenings.
Because the airway doesn’t always close completely, OSA isn’t always obvious—even if someone watches you sleep.
Snoring, restless sleep, or subtle pauses in breathing may be the only signs, but over time, these repeated interruptions fragment sleep and can lead to daytime fatigue, reduced performance, and long-term health risks such as high blood pressure, heart disease, and diabetes.
For athletes, that can mean:
- Slower reaction times on the field or court
- Reduced decision-making sharpness under pressure
- Poorer recovery between training sessions and matches
- Daytime fatigue, making it harder to push in the gym or stay focused in competition
How Common is OSA in Athletes?
You might think OSA only affects older or overweight people. While OSA is more prevalent in these demographics, it can affect even young and very fit people.
- In elite rugby union players, almost 1 in 4 were found to have OSA on full overnight sleep studies [1].
- In professional rugby league athletes, a home-based study showed that nearly half (45%) had mild or greater OSA [2].
- Among female collegiate athletes, a 2025 study revealed that 1 in 4 had mild OSA, despite being young and highly trained [3].
These numbers show that OSA can lurk in high-performing athletes, silently holding back progress and increasing risk of fatigue, illness, and even cardiac strain.
The Performance Impact of Poor Sleep
Even without OSA, research shows just how much bad sleep can undermine performance:
- Less than 6 hours per night has been shown to measurably reduce strength, endurance, and power—directly affecting athletic performance [8].
- Poor sleep impairs motor perception and raises Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE), meaning workouts feel harder and fatigue sets in earlier [9].
- Athletes who sleep less than 8 hours per night face nearly double the risk of injury, along with impaired thermoregulation and lower pain tolerance [10].
When OSA fragments sleep night after night, the combined effect on performance can be dramatic, robbing athletes of both physical and mental sharpness.
The Performance Impact of Treatment
The good news is that OSA is treatable, and treatment makes a difference that matters for sport as well as overall health and wellbeing.
Research in OSA patients (and increasingly in athletes) shows that with therapy, especially CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure):
- Reaction times and coordination improve — critical in fast-moving sports like football, basketball, and motorsport [4].
- Cognitive functions sharpen — memory, focus, and decision-making get better, helping with tactical awareness and split-second choices [5].
- Daytime sleepiness drops — leading to better training intensity and consistency [6].
- Sleep architecture recovers — more deep sleep and REM sleep, which are vital for physical recovery and learning new skills [7].
Easy Access to Testing — Anywhere in Australia
At Home Sleep, we’ve made it simple for athletes to check if OSA is affecting their game:
- Melbourne athletes: A trained technician can drive to your home and set up your study on any evening.
- Across Australia: We can post you a device with clear, step-by-step written instructions. Most athletes find setup takes just a few minutes.
You’ll sleep in your own bed, in your normal environment. Our team analyses the results, and you’ll get a clear report reviewed by sleep physicians.
Key Takeaway
Sleep isn’t just recovery—it’s performance fuel. If you’re grinding in training but still feel sluggish, if your reactions feel dulled, or if you’re battling unexplained fatigue, it could be more than overtraining.
Improving sleep quality, whether increasing hours in bed, improving sleep regularity or treating a disorder such as sleep apnoea, can restore energy, sharpen your mind, and improve performance.
If you want to know whether OSA is holding you back, book a home-based sleep study with Home Sleep today.
References
- Dunican, I. C., et al. (2019). Prevalence of sleep disorders and sleep problems in an elite Super Rugby union team. European Journal of Sport Science.
- Fensham, N., et al. (2025). High prevalence of obstructive sleep apnoea risk in professional rugby league athletes: A home-based PSG study. Life.
- American College of Cardiology (2025). Sleep apnoea more common than previously known in female athletes: findings from collegiate cohort. Care of the Athletic Heart Conference, ACC Press Release.
- Ferini-Strambi, L., et al. (2019). CPAP therapy improves reaction time and coordination in patients with OSA. Sleep and Breathing.
- Rosenzweig, I., et al. (2020). Cognitive improvements following CPAP treatment in OSA patients. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.
- Weaver, T. E., et al. (2007). Continuous positive airway pressure treatment of OSA improves sleepiness and functioning. Sleep.
- Richards, D., et al. (2022). Sleep architecture recovery with CPAP therapy in OSA. Sleep Medicine Reviews.
- Knowles, O., et al. (2022). Effects of ≤6 hours sleep on physical performance: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Sports Medicine.
- Frontiers in Physiology (2025). Sleep deprivation impairs motor perception and increases perceived exertion in athletes. Frontiers in Physiology.
- Milewski, M. D., et al. (2014). Chronic lack of sleep is associated with increased sports injuries in adolescent athletes. Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics.