  he impact of a lousy night's sleep is especially slight when it comes to athletic performance
The authors of a recent Canadian study explain:
Although sleep deprivation has long been considered to be a stressful condition, the actual findings
from studies do not seem to bear this conclusion out. Sleep deprivation of 30 to 72 hours does not
affect cardiovascular and respiratory responses to exercise of varying intensity, or the aerobic and
anaerobic performance capability of individuals. Muscle strength and electromechanical responses are
also not affected. It appears that athletes do not have to be concerned about their physical performance
following a sleep loss of one or even two nights if they are sufficiently mentally motivated.
he researchers acknowledge that athletes deprived of sleep perceive that they aren't as fast or as
strong, "but this is not a reliable assessment of a subject's ability to perform physical work." The
handicap, in other words, is a function of the athlete's sleep-robbed Imagination. Mental efficiency is a
slightly different matter; A lack of sleep inevitably interferes with concentration, memory and judgment.
But once again, the negative impact isn't that great.
 n a case studied in 1965, a 17-year-old student named Randy Gardner re-mained awake for 11 days
and nights, setting a record for uninterrupted sleep-lessness. "He had difficulty focusing his eyes by the
second day," reported La-Verne Johnson, chief scientist at the Navy Medical Neuropsychiatric Research
Unit in San Diego, "noted marked nausea on the third and memory lapses on the fourth day. That night he
imagined he was a great football player Intermittent slurred speech was evident on the seventh day, and
by the ninth day the subject occasionally thought in fragments and did not finish sentences." Yet even in
the final hours of his ordeal, Gardner was able to play more than 100 games of pinball against fully rested
observers and hold his own.
 hen deprived of sleep, the mind balks and falters, which makes monotonous, drawn-out tasks such
as driving or working on an assembly line problematic and sometimes dangerous. Every year, according
to estimates by the Department of Transportation, 200,000 traffic accidents are caused by people who fall
asleep at the wheel. But as Gardner's pinball wizardry demonstrated, normal mental function can be
summoned virtually at will, at least for limited periods, simply by mustering a special effort to
concentrate. And caffeine, loud music and the heat of competition have all been shown to be effective
aids for reviving a sleep-starved brain.
 good nap is even better. According to Dr. Dement, "Nature intended that adults should nap in the
middle of the day." The human brain, it seems, is programmed to fall asleep not only at night but also for
a brief period in mid-afternoon. A post-lunch siesta for as little as 15 td 30 minutes can do wonders to
turn around an ugly mood and restore flagging concentration. So the next time the boss catches you out
cold with your forehead welded to your desktop, explain that you're simply taking steps to increase your
productivity. How could he or she possibly object?
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