Early in his NBA career, Andre Iguodala had a bedtime problem. He stayed up late playing video games, grabbed a couple of hours of sleep before practice, and patched the gap with an afternoon nap.¹ That meant on most days, Iguodala got four to six hours of sleep in total.¹ While he was talented enough to get away with it, he wasn’t reaching his full potential.
Years later, Iguodala rebuilt his nights from the ground up, and his sleep grew to seven or eight hours a night.¹ The result? Key measures like his shooting, fouls and turnovers all moved in the right direction. In 2015, Iguodala was named NBA Finals MVP.
Plenty of high performers are now realizing that sleep and recovery are a necessary part of the job, crucial for staying sharp both mentally and physically. In this article, you’ll learn what research says about sleep and high performance, how much sleep you actually need, and why steady CPAP use matters for anyone (including high performers) with sleep apnea.
How did better sleep help Andre Iguodala?
Better sleep helped Andre Iguodala shoot more accurately and make fewer mistakes, according to the sleep scientist who worked with him.¹ Cheri Mah, the Stanford researcher behind a well-known basketball sleep study, said his free-throw and three-point shooting improved after the change.¹ Mah said his fouls and turnovers dropped as well.¹
Good sleep should be a habit
Iguodala didn't find a miracle cure. He built a simple nightly routine and stuck with it. He put his phone on airplane mode, cut back on screens before bed and paid attention to the temperature of his bedroom.2 Some of his Golden State teammates bought in, at times staying overnight in a city after a late game rather than flying home short on sleep.2 Iguodala said the payoff went beyond game nights: "I practiced better, my preparation was better."2
In The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg describes every habit as a loop of cue, routine and reward. Iguodala's cue was bedtime. His routine was phone off, screens down and a cool room. His reward showed up on the scoreboard.
Nobody can prove that sleep alone won Iguodala a Finals MVP, because plenty of factors go into a title run. Still, the player who once ran on four hours of sleep ended the 2015 season holding the trophy.
Can more sleep make you a better athlete?
Yes. In a Stanford study, college basketball players who slept more for several weeks ran faster and shot more accurately.3
Imagine a supplement that made athletes quicker, sharper and more accurate, with no side effects and no price tag. Every team in the league would want it. Stanford researchers tested exactly that kind of upgrade, and the upgrade was sleep.
The study followed 11 players from Stanford's men's varsity basketball team. After a few weeks of normal sleep, the players aimed for at least 10 hours in bed each night for five to seven weeks. The change added close to two hours of sleep per night on average.3 Here's what improved:
- Free-throw accuracy rose by 9%.3
- Three-point accuracy rose by 9.2%.3
- Sprint times dropped from 16.2 seconds to 15.5 seconds.3
- Reaction times got faster, and players felt less sleepy during the day.3
With only 11 players, the study was small, so treat the exact numbers as a guide rather than a promise. The players got faster, sharper and more alert with one main change: more sleep.
What happened when Arianna Huffington ran out of sleep?
Arianna Huffington collapsed from exhaustion in 2007, two years after launching The Huffington Post.4 Huffington had been working 18-hour days, seven days a week, to grow the site.5
On April 6, 2007, Huffington fell in her home office, struck the corner of her desk and broke her cheekbone.5 She came to on the floor in a pool of blood.4 A series of medical tests followed, and the cause turned out to be exhaustion and lack of sleep.
In Grit, psychologist Angela Duckworth argues that great achievement comes from passion and perseverance. Huffington had both in huge supply. What she didn't have was rest, and no amount of drive could make up for it.
Huffington turned the scare into a mission. She wrote The Sleep Revolution, a book about why sleep matters, and later founded Thrive Global, a company focused on well-being.4, 2
Here's the twist. Andre Iguodala later invested in Thrive Global and sat down with Huffington on her podcast to talk about sleep.2 A basketball star and a media founder arrived at the same lesson from opposite ends of the court.
Is being tired really like being drunk?
In some ways, yes. An Australian study found that after 17 to 19 hours awake, people did as badly as, or worse than, they did on some tests with a blood alcohol level of 0.05%.⁶
Researchers tested 39 people, mostly transport workers, during 28 hours without sleep. The same people were tested again after drinking measured amounts of alcohol.6 On some tests, response speeds after a long day awake were up to 50% slower.6 After even more hours without sleep, performance sank to the level seen at a blood alcohol level of 0.1%.6
Seventeen hours awake isn't a heroic all-nighter. If you wake at 6 a.m., you hit 17 hours awake at 11 p.m.
Can you get used to sleeping six hours a night?
Not really. In a well-known lab study, people limited to six hours of sleep a night for two weeks got steadily worse at tasks that test attention and thinking.7
The study compared groups given 8, 6 or 4 hours in bed each night for 14 days.7 The 8-hour group held steady, while the 6-hour and 4-hour groups slipped further day after day.7 By the end, the 6-hour group's results looked like those of people kept awake for one to two full nights.7 Many people on short sleep didn't feel nearly as impaired as their test scores showed.7
Arianna Huffington would recognize that blind spot. Feeling fine on six hours isn't proof that six hours is enough.
Does poor sleep raise your risk of injury?
Research suggests it does, at least in young athletes. A study of 112 middle and high school athletes found that those who slept less than eight hours a night were 1.7 times more likely to get injured.8
A review of several studies found that teens who regularly sleep poorly have a higher risk of sports and musculoskeletal injuries.8 Slower reactions and weaker focus may help explain the link.
How does sleep affect performance at work?
Short sleep costs workers focus and output, and the losses add up across a whole country. A RAND Europe study estimated that insufficient sleep costs Canada up to $21.4 billion (USD) a year, about 1.35% of the country's GDP.9 That same report estimated that Canada loses nearly 80,000 working days a year to sleep loss.9
Most adults aged 18 to 64 need 7 to 9 hours of good-quality sleep a night, and adults 65 and older need 7 to 8 hours.10 Canada's 24-Hour Movement Guidelines recommend these amounts and emphasize that going to bed and waking up at consistent times are important to restful sleep.10
Hours matter, but quality matters as well. Broken sleep from noise, pain or breathing problems can leave you tired even after a full night in bed.
How can you sleep better and perform better?
The best way to sleep better is to build a routine and protect it, the way Iguodala did. Try these habits:
- Go to bed and wake up at about the same time every day, weekends included.10
- Put your phone on airplane mode and keep screens out of the last hour before bed.2
- Keep your bedroom dark, quiet, cool and comfortable.2, 10
- Save caffeine for earlier in the day.
- Give yourself extra time in bed in the nights before a big week, the way the Stanford players aimed for 10 hours a night.3
- Use your CPAP every night, for the whole night, if you have sleep apnea.
How does sleep apnea affect your performance?
Untreated sleep apnea breaks up your sleep many times a night, which can leave you sleepy and foggy during the day. Obstructive sleep apnea happens when your airway keeps closing during sleep, causing broken sleep and drops in oxygen.11 Excessive daytime sleepiness is one of its most common effects.11
In fact, most Canadians with sleep apnea may not know they have it. Only about 6% of Canadian adults report being diagnosed, while Statistics Canada estimates that nearly 15% of adults without a diagnosis are at high risk, more than twice as many people.¹²
Does CPAP therapy help you perform better during the day?
For many people with sleep apnea, regular CPAP use reduces daytime sleepiness and improves alertness. A 2022 review of randomized controlled trials found that CPAP therapy improved both how sleepy people felt and how alert they tested during the day.11
The review found that results were tied to how consistently people used their machine and how long they stayed on therapy.11 Iguodala's routine needed a phone on airplane mode. For people with sleep apnea, the routine has one more key player: a CPAP machine used every night. A few things make that consistency easier:
- A mask that fits well. A comfortable mask is easier to wear all night. Browse our CPAP masks to find a style that suits how you sleep.
- Fresh supplies. Worn cushions, old filters and tired tubing can make therapy less comfortable. You can restock from one of the largest CPAP selections in Canada in our CPAP supplies collection.
- A machine you like using. The ResMed AirSense 11 AutoSet has guided setup right on its screen, so getting started is simple. You can compare every model in our CPAP machines collection.
- Not sure if you have sleep apnea? Get tested at home with the WatchPAT and have your results reviewed and interpreted by our licensed Canadian Sleep Physicians
Quick Sleep FAQs
Can naps make up for lost sleep?
Short naps can help you feel more alert, but they work best as a top-up rather than a replacement for a full night. The Stanford basketball players were encouraged to nap when travel cut into their sleep.3
Can coffee replace sleep?
No. Caffeine can help you feel more awake for a while, but it doesn't give your brain and body the rest that sleep provides. Keep caffeine to earlier in the day so it doesn't keep you up at night.
Can you catch up on sleep over the weekend?
A steady schedule works better than catching up on weekends. Canada's sleep guidelines recommend consistent bed and wake-up times every day.10
Is sleep quality as important as the number of hours?
Yes. Broken sleep can leave you tired even after enough hours in bed. Canada's guidelines call for 7 to 9 hours of good-quality sleep, not just time in bed.10
Can a leaky CPAP mask hurt my sleep?
Yes. A leaking or poorly fitting mask can wake you up and make it harder to stick with therapy. If your mask keeps shifting or leaking, a new cushion or a different mask style may help.
The short answer
- Andre Iguodala went from four to six hours of sleep to seven or eight, and his shooting improved while his fouls and turnovers dropped.1
- Arianna Huffington's 18-hour workdays ended with a collapse from exhaustion and a broken cheekbone.5
- Basketball players who slept more ran faster and shot about 9% more accurately.3
- Most adults need 7 to 9 hours of good-quality sleep, on a regular schedule.10
- For people with sleep apnea, consistent CPAP use can reduce daytime sleepiness and improve alertness.11
Talent gets you in the game, but sleep keeps you sharp enough to win it.
Sources
- Inside Science (American Institute of Physics). Sleep Helps Players Excel in NBA Finals. aip.org
- Sports Illustrated. Andre Iguodala credits better sleep for improved performance. May 22, 2017. si.com
- Mah CD, Mah KE, Kezirian EJ, Dement WC. The effects of sleep extension on the athletic performance of collegiate basketball players. Sleep. 2011;34(7):943–950. PMC3119836
- Fortune. Arianna Huffington's new book about sleep. April 5, 2016. fortune.com
- The CEO Magazine. Arianna Huffington. December 2014. theceomagazine.com
- Williamson AM, Feyer AM. Moderate sleep deprivation produces impairments in cognitive and motor performance equivalent to legally prescribed levels of alcohol intoxication. Occup Environ Med. 2000;57:649–655. PMC1071308
- Van Dongen HPA, Maislin G, Mullington JM, Dinges DF. The cumulative cost of additional wakefulness. Sleep. 2003;26(2):117–126. PubMed 12683469
- Chronic lack of sleep is associated with increased sports injury in adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis (includes Milewski et al., 2014). PMC6446394
- RAND Europe. Why Sleep Matters: The Economic Costs of Insufficient Sleep. 2016. rand.org
- Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology. Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for Adults. csepguidelines.ca
- Li Z, Cai S, Wang J, Chen R. Predictors of the efficacy for daytime sleepiness in patients with obstructive sleep apnea with CPAP therapy: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Front Neurol. 2022;13. frontiersin.org
- Statistics Canada. Sleep apnea in Canada, 2016 and 2017. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/181024/dq181024a-eng.htm