Discover Your Hidden Power: Healthy Napping Helps Yaroslava Mahuchikh, the Gold Champion of Olympic Games 2024 in Paris
By Oksana Zayachkivska, MD, PhD, DSc , Professor of Physiology and Pathophysiology, School of Medicine
The Olympic games 2024 in Paris, France have shown a lot of new achievements and records. They are the results of consistent and focused training based on a well-structured long-term plan composed from progressive overload and adequate rest and recovery. Good sleep habits are essential for developing physical and mental toughness, resilience and focus not only for the elite athletes but everyone who wants to maintain overall health and well-being.
“Sleep is my superpower. It’s not just about physical recovery, but also mental. Sleep helps me clear my mind and focus.”- is the main message from Yaroslava Mahuchikh, Olympic champion 2024 who won the gold medal in high jump [1].
Fig. 1. Yaroslava Mahuchikh, Olympic champion 2024 who won the gold medal in high jump.
She is famous also for her unique habit of sleeping in a sleeping bag between jumps at competitions in a crowded stadium. The nickname “Sleeping Beauty” given to Yaroslava, is a playful reference to the classic fairy tale “Sleeping Beauty,” but in this case, it’s a sign of her ability to rest and recharge in a short amount of time, even during intense athletic competition. It’s a clever and fitting nickname that has stuck with her!
Yaroslava Mahuchikh is a Ukrainian high jumper, 22 years old who is prominent in the athletic world with her impressive performances in the last years: World Champion (2022), European Champion (2022), World Indoor Champion (2022) and unique approach to competition despite of full-scale wartime in her Homeland country. Her will to win was based on her love for Ukraine and dedication to memorialize 500 sportsmen and coaches who died during the two and half years of wartime. Mahuchikh has openly discussed her reliance on sleep to compensate for her intense training and competition schedule. She believes that sleep is essential for her mental focus on specific goal, her body’s recovery and repair. During competitions, she often brings a sleeping bag with her and takes short naps between jumps.
Fig. 2. Napping during the Olympic games 2024 final competition helps Yaroslava to boost her physical and mental health and win gold medal.
Napping as a tool to boost energy for physical and mental health
Establishing healthy sleep habits is key to long-term health and vitality, especially in the modern time when asynchrony between the biological clock and the social clock creates deficiency of nighttime sleep in different age groups [2, 3]. Effects of sleep debt could mimic attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) which could be present not only in childhood but also in adulthood. Insufficient sleep or bad quality of sleep has become widespread recently and can contribute to the development of cardiovascular, endocrine, mental diseases as well as cognitive dysfunction and cancer [4, 5, 6]. Thus, it is important to have daytime sleeping—napping [7]. There are different types of napping based on duration, functional significance, and their impact on memory and mental health [Tab.1]. The introduction of National Napping Day in 1999 by a Boston University professor, William Anthony Ph.D., and his wife, Camille Anthony, has spread awareness on the importance of getting enough sleep and its benefits via different types of sleeping. Here are 5 tips on how to have effective sleeping habits.
Different types of sleeping, such as napping, mini-sleeping, and others, offer various benefits for enhancement cognitive productivity, emotions, sleep onset and prevent physical or mental existence. There are several options for daytime sleeping which could be beneficial for you too and your personal wellbeing that will help you to the right way to re-load yourself:
1. Napping (15-90 minutes):
– Improves cognitive function, memory, and creativity
– Boosts alertness and energy
– Reduces stress and fatigue
– Supports heart health
2. Mini-sleeping (5-15 minutes):
– Quick energy boost
– Improves focus and concentration
– Enhances mental clarity
– Reduces stress and anxiety
3. Power napping (15-30 minutes):
– Combines benefits of napping and mini-sleeping
– Improves memory consolidation
– Enhances problem-solving skills
– Boosts productivity
4. REM napping (90-120 minutes):
– Allows for a full sleep cycle
– Improves emotional regulation
– Enhances creativity and problem-solving skills
– Supports learning and memory consolidation
5. Polyphasic sleeping (multiple naps throughout the day):
– Increases productivity and efficiency
– Enhances creativity and problem-solving skills
– Reduces sleep pressure and fatigue
– May improve overall sleep quality
6. Ultrashort napping (less than 5 minutes):
– Quick energy boost
– Improves focus and concentration
– Enhances mental clarity
– May improve mood
Remember, napping is a skill, and it might take some experimentation to find what works best for you. Just establish a consistent sleep schedule and avoid caffeine and heavy meals before napping.
Reference
- NBC sports: Ukraine’s Yaroslava Mahuchikh FLIES to high jump gold
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- Peigneux, Philippe; Laureys, Steven; Delbeuck, Xavier; Maquet, Pierre. Sleeping brain, learning brain. The role of sleep for memory systems. Neuroreport 12(18):p A111-A124, December 21, 2001.
- Pinucci I, Maraone A, Tarsitani L, Pasquini M. Insomnia among Cancer Patients in the Real World: Optimising Treatments and Tailored Therapies. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Feb 21;20(5):3785. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20053785. PMID: 36900794; PMCID: PMC10001409.
- Fabbri M, Beracci A, Martoni M, Meneo D, Tonetti L, Natale V. Measuring Subjective Sleep Quality: A Review. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Jan 26;18(3):1082. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18031082. PMID: 33530453; PMCID: PMC7908437.
- Faraut B, Andrillon T, Vecchierini MF, Leger D. Napping: A public health issue. From epidemiological to laboratory studies. Sleep Med Rev. 2017 Oct;35:85-100. doi: 10.1016/j.smrv.2016.09.002. Epub 2016 Sep 13. PMID: 27751677.