In the fast paced world of todays’ professional athlete, sleep and all its associated benefits are critical to success. That success is often measured in millimetres, milliseconds or sometimes millions of pounds [1].

To gain as much benefit from sleep data, the athlete needs to have a “device” that travels with them wherever they go to allow continuous measurement of the metrics that will give then that 1% edge. Many athletes will swear by a wearable; those watches, rings or bracelets that allow them to record a multitude of data on their performance, rest and recovery.

Travel, press obligations, training, game time and even fan engagement will all impact their metrics in either a positive or negative way. The problem with the current crop of wearables is consistency of data. No matter how diligent an athlete may be, they will forget to charge the device, wear the device or perish the thought, leave the device charger at home. No wearable, no data, no ability to consistently manage the effects travel on performance. A data desert in a sea of numbers will play havoc with those carefully curated algorithms.

Fast forward to NOW, Footfalls has designed, built and tested a textile that the athlete can carry with them on their travels that is able to seamlessly gather sleep data invisibly, and continuously. The data can then be amalgamated with their previous and future data gathered from the same textile, which is invisibly working, continuously storing information. THUS, the first ever complete record of their sleep patterns – “a personal sleep encyclopaedia”.

When we say continuously we mean it. Over weeks, months, years the device gathers information no matter what club, competition or country the athlete is in and gives both quantifiable metrics on the whole body during sleep (not the wrist or finger) as well as recommendations to enhance sleep in a myriad of different situations.

So now Jimmy Spithill ( America’s Cup reference) can measure his sleep in Barcelona, Sydney or Bermuda and determine those changes that allow him to be at the peak of his performance wherever his amazing sailing skills take him.

So, visit the Footfalls website or sign up above to our newsletter to get a sneak preview of this amazing textile system. It is time to change how we measure sleep and make better sleep possible for all.

www.footfallsandheartbeats.com

[1] Fullagar, H.H.K., Skorski, S., Duffield, R. et al. Sleep and Athletic Performance: The Effects of Sleep Loss on Exercise Performance, and Physiological and Cognitive Responses to Exercise. Sports Med 45, 161–186 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-014-0260-0

Sleep, Sport & Travel

Micromechanical Structures

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