**6. Practical Applications**

Given the well-known benefits of sleep for athletes, other than implementing appropriate sleep hygiene practices such as creating a sleep routine, avoiding electronic devices, and sleeping in a cool, dark quiet room, nutritional interventions can be useful in enhancing sleep quality and quantity. Though the exact timing and dosage of nutrition interventions

to enhance sleep warrants further research, the following sleep enhancement strategies can be derived from the studies published to date:


To identify a nutritional intervention is enhancing the sleep an athlete in an applied setting, we recommend:


In relation to nutritional interventions known to compromise sleep, we recommend that athletes avoid the following substances prior to sleep:


A major challenge for athletes is to maintain high standard nutritional practices across the wide variety of settings they face: their personal home environment, the regular training facility, the home match venue, the away match venue, and during local, national, and international travel. Dieticians should work closely with and educate players, coaches, and team staff to ensure that both nutrition and sleep arrangements are given a high priority.
