(The Westside Story) – Researchers at the University of Birmingham studied the sleeping patterns of professional game players to trace if sleep affects their performance. These days the timings for football matches vary hugely, depending on the league for which the match is being played. For instance, matches start from say 12.45pm on Saturdays and at 9 pm for Champions League. Academics at the University felt that this necessitates knowledge on the subject that connects players and sleep.
For the study, researchers divided the patterns into three categories, namely the owls, intermediates and the larks. People with their biological waking hours between 11am and 12pm formed the first category. Those waking up between 8am and 9 am the second, and the first category players woke up anytime between 6am and 7am. They observed the athletes’ entrained awakening hours, that is to say, the time at which they would wake naturally- without any external aids.