title: The effect of westward travel across five time zones on sleep and subjective jet-lag ratings in athletes before and during the 2015's World Rowing Junior Championships.
abstract: This study examined sleep-wake habits and subjective jet-lag ratings of 55 German junior rowers (n = 30 male, 17.8 ± 0.5 years) before and during the World Rowing Junior Championships 2015 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Athletes answered sleep logs every morning, and Liverpool John Moore's University Jet-Lag Questionnaires each evening and morning. Following an 11-h westward flight with 5-h time shift, advanced bedtimes (-1 h, P < .001, ηp2= 0.68), reduced sleep onset latency (P = .002, ηp2= 0.53) and increased sleep duration (P < .001, ηp2= 0.60) were reported for the first two nights. Jet-lag symptoms peaked upon arrival but were still present after 6 days. Sleep quality improved (P < .001, ηp2= 0.31) as well as some scales of the Recovery-Stress Questionnaire for Athletes. Participation was successful as indicated by 11 of 13 top 3 placings. Overall, the initial desynchronisation did not indicate negative impacts on competition performance. As travel fatigue probably had a major effect on perceptual decrements, sleep during travel and time to recover upon arrival should be emphasised. Coaches and practitioners should consider higher sleep propensity in the early evening by scheduling training sessions and meetings until the late afternoon.
authors.affiliation: a Faculty of Sport Science , Ruhr University Bochum , Bochum , Germany.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kölling
authors.affiliation: b Sports and Rehabilitation Medicine , University Medical Centre Ulm , Ulm , Germany.
authors.forename: Gunnar
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Treff
authors.affiliation: b Sports and Rehabilitation Medicine , University Medical Centre Ulm , Ulm , Germany.
authors.forename: Kay
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Winkert
authors.affiliation: a Faculty of Sport Science , Ruhr University Bochum , Bochum , Germany.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ferrauti
authors.affiliation: c Institute of Sports and Preventive Medicine , Saarland University , Saarbrücken , Germany.
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Meyer
authors.affiliation: d Institute of Sport Science , Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz , Mainz , Germany.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pfeiffer
authors.affiliation: a Faculty of Sport Science , Ruhr University Bochum , Bochum , Germany.|e School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences , University of Queensland , Brisbane , Australia.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kellmann
mesh_terms: D056044:Actigraphy; D000293:Adolescent; D056352:Athletes; D054874:Athletic Performance; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020179:Jet Lag Syndrome / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D012890:Sleep; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014195:Travel; D000073678:Water Sports
keywords: Trans-meridian travel; elite sports; field study; long-haul flight; recovery