Early Starts Can Destroy Athletic Performance
New research find morning appointment times impact sleep more than training load at elite rugby camps.
A new study published in the European Journal of Sport Science tracked 26 elite under-20 rugby union players throughout a 10-day national team training camp and uncovered something most coaches overlook: the timing of morning appointments had a more significant impact on sleep than the training load itself. Using advanced sleep-monitoring technology, including actigraphy and electroencephalographic (EEG) headbands, researchers discovered that seemingly small scheduling decisions (like starting the day at 7:30 instead of 8:00) can cost athletes critical sleep and recovery, particularly before competitions.
The Sleep Crisis at Training Camps
Training camps are supposed to build athletes up, but this study reveals they’re often tearing them down when it comes to sleep. The numbers are dreadful: 30.3% of nights fell below the recommended 7 hours of sleep, a staggering 77.8% of nights showed excessive wake time after falling asleep (over 40 minutes), and 43.4% had poor sleep efficiency below 85%. These aren’t just numbers on a page. They represent cumulative fatigue that can undermine training adaptations, increase injury risk, and compromise competitive performance.
The worst night? The evening before Match 1, players averaged just 6 hours and 52 minutes of sleep—falling well short of recommendations for young adults. The culprit wasn’t an intense training session or pre-game jitters alone. It was the 7:30 a.m. morning appointment—the earliest of the entire camp.
Training Load’s Surprising Effect on Sleep
Contrary to what many believe, controlled training intensity actually improved sleep quality in these elite athletes. For every additional 100 meters covered at high speed (above 18 km/h), players gained approximately 5 minutes of sleep and experienced better sleep architecture with fewer transitions between sleep stages. This finding supports an inverted U-shaped relationship between training load and sleep: moderate increases in high-intensity running promote sleep, but excessive loads can tip the scales toward sleep disturbance.
Importantly, the study found no detrimental effects from collisions, accelerations, decelerations, or perceived training load on subsequent sleep. This suggests that when training camps are well-designed with controlled, non-excessive loads—as this one was in preparation for two exhibition matches—the physical demands actually support rather than sabotage recovery.
Morning Appointments: The Real Sleep Thief
Here’s where things get interesting. The study revealed that morning appointment times dramatically influenced sleep patterns the night before. When researchers compared different start times (7:30, 8:00, 8:30, and 9:00 a.m.), they found that:
The 8:00 a.m. appointment time produced better sleep efficiency and duration than the 8:30 a.m. slot. When the morning appointment shifted from 8:00 to 8:30, players lost 19.3 minutes of sleep and saw a 2.2% drop in sleep efficiency. Why? Players delayed their bedtime by 43.9 minutes but only slept for an additional 33.5 minutes, resulting in a net loss.
The 7:30 a.m. appointment—the earliest of the camp—resulted in the shortest sleep duration at 6:52. Players did not compensate by going to bed earlier, possibly because social commitments limited earlier bedtimes or because their natural sleep propensity (driven by circadian and homeostatic processes) wasn’t sufficient to fall asleep earlier.
These findings have massive implications: scheduling an early morning appointment the day before a match may directly impair the sleep that’s critical for peak performance.
The Fatigue Feedback Loop
The study also uncovered a concerning cycle: players who went to bed later, experienced prolonged nighttime awakenings, and reported poor sleep quality subsequently rated themselves as more fatigued the next day. This increased fatigue was linked to delayed bedtimes and reduced sleep efficiency. One explanation is bedtime procrastination; athletes treat sleep as a flexible commodity they can sacrifice for activities they perceive as more important or enjoyable. Abrupt changes in sleep timing can also disrupt the body’s circadian system and fuel daytime fatigue.
Takeaways
This study provides clear, evidence-based guidance for anyone involved in training camps or intensive training blocks:
Maintain consistent morning start times. Avoid varying wake-up times throughout the camp. Consistency promotes regular sleep-wake patterns and helps athletes achieve adequate sleep quantity and quality.
Avoid early or unusual morning appointments before competitions. Scheduling an early morning meeting the day before or day of a match can reduce sleep duration and efficiency when athletes need it most.
Control training loads strategically. Moderate, controlled training loads—especially higher running volumes at high speeds—can actually enhance sleep duration and continuity. The key is avoiding excessive, unmanaged loads that push athletes past the tipping point.
Educate athletes on sleep hygiene. Implement sleep education programs that emphasise the importance of consistent sleep timing, avoiding bedtime procrastination, and prioritising recovery during vulnerable periods, such as training camps.
Monitor sleep proactively. Use tools like actigraphy or even simple sleep diaries to track sleep patterns and identify problematic trends before they compound into significant performance or health issues.
The Bottom Line
Training camps are inherently challenging environments for sleep, with unfamiliar settings, shared rooms, congested schedules, and the physical demands of training all conspiring against rest. But this study makes one thing crystal clear: organisational decisions—particularly morning appointment times—can have an outsized impact on sleep outcomes. While coaches can’t control everything, they can control when they ask athletes to show up, and that simple decision can make or break recovery during critical preparation periods.
The science is clear: if you want athletes to perform at their peak, you need to protect their sleep. And sometimes, that means starting the day a little later.
Book a call with me here.
We’ll sit down and upgrade or build out your entire training and performance program in one session.
Reference
Chauvineau, M., Mathieu, B., Boissard, G., Piscione, J., Duforez, F., Guilhem, G., & Nedelec, M. (2025). Morning Appointment Time Rather Than Training Load Affects Sleep During a Training Camp in Young Elite Rugby Union Players. European Journal of Sport Science, 25(11), e70020. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsc.70020
You can also find me at dannyleejames.com for stories, personal training insights, and coaching.
Brilliant breakdown of the scheduling paradox. The 8:00 vs 8:30 AM finding is fascinating becuase it shows players actually delayed bedtime by more than they gained in morning sleep, like they psychologically "spent" the extra time rather than banked it. I've seen this with corporate teams too where flexible start times backfire when people don't adjust sleep forward, just push everything later. The moderate training load improving sleep architecture makes sense from a homeostatic drive perspective, dunno why more programs don't lean into strategic loading for pre-competition sleep quality.