RCL55: ’Sleep: Injury & Performance’ with special guest Dr Jonathan Charest

04/21/22 • 65 min

Our new episodes continue, in association with the 'Sleep Awareness Month' of the Sports Thera[y Association, streamed live at 8pm (GMT +1) every Tuesday in April, to both the STA YouTube Channel and also the Runchatlive Facebook Page,

In this episode, I am joined by special guest Dr Jonathan Charest, Director of Athlete Sleep Services at The Centre for Sleep & Human Performance, in Calgary, Canada. Dr Charest, a published scientific author in the field of sleep research, discusses the impact sleep quality/quantity can have on athletic performance, cognition, health, and mental well-being. He also talks about the role of sleep in reducing risk of injury, and how by delivering education, screening tools, and research-based strategies we can help establish healthy sleep for athletes throughout their career.

Topics discussed include:

Has there been an increase in our understanding of the relationship between sleep and athletic performance over the last few years?
Do athletes sleep worse than non athletic population?
Does going to bed earlier the night before early morning training help?
How relevant are Circadian Rhythms and Chronotypes when it comes to working with athletes?
Are potential future elite athletes slipping through the net because of insufficient sleep?
Do elite athletes for different sports tend to be of the same chronotype?
What are some ways we can help athletes who are suffering from inadequate sleep?
How useful are sleep trackers and wearables to athletes?
How much of a factor is the type of sport when it comes to sleep inadequacy?
Can athletes 'bank' sleep hourse and if so how long do saved hours last?
What strategies can we give to athletes to help them improve their sleep?

Useful Links

Centre for Sleep and Human Performance website
Centre for Sleep and Human Performance on Facebook
Dr Jonathan Charest on Twitter: @jocharest1

About This Week's Guest
Dr. Jonathan Charest is the director of Athlete Sleep Services and a behavioral sleep medicine specialist at the Centre for Sleep & Human Performance as well as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Calgary. A published scientific author in the field of sleep research, Dr Charest Focuses on how to optimize sleep, training and travel schedule for athletes, occasional athletes, and student-athletes, and possesses expertise in behavioral sleep medicine (CBT-I), circadian rhythms disorders as well as the specific reality of the athletic population. As an ex-athlete, he believes in the importance of sleep, recovery and regeneration in the performance environment.
A huge thanks to Dr Jonathan Charest for giving up his time to join us!

JOIN US FOR MORE EPISODES!
Because SLEEP is such a massively important topic, this month's 'Sleep Awareness' series is being recorded LIVE on not just the STA YouTube Channel but also Runchatlive Facebook Page!

APRIL 5th - 'Sleep: The Silent Epidemic' with Jesse Cook, Clinical Psychology PhD Student and Sleep Researcher - recording available on all popular podcast apps!
APRIL 12th - 'Sleep Trackers' with Dr Olivia Walch, CEO of Arcascope, PhD Applied Mathematics - recording available on all popular podcast apps!
APRIL 19th - 'Sleep: Injury & Performance' with Dr Jonathan Charest, Director of Athlete Sleep Service at Centre For Sleep & Human Performance
APRIL 26th - 'In-Home Polysomnogram' with Dr Amy M. Bender, Director of Clinical Sleep Science at Cerebra, including results of my 30 night Sleep study! Amy was my guest in August 2021 in Ep63 ‘How Sleep Affects Sports And Fitness’.

Feel free to join us LIVE on Tuesdays throughout April at 8pm (GMT+1)!
What is the Sports Therapy Association Podcast?
For those of you are unaware, in May 2020 I created the Sports Therapy Association Podcast, a weekly podcast with the mission of Putting the Evidence Back into Sports Therapy and Sports Massage Therapy. It gets streamed LIVE every Tuesday at 8pm (UK time) on the Sports Therapy Association YouTube Channel and is then uploaded to all popular podcast apps including Spotify.
Though it's not ...

Topics discussed include:

Has there been an increase in our understanding of the relationship between sleep and athletic performance over the last few years?
Do athletes sleep worse than non athletic population?
Does going to bed earlier the night before early morning training help?
How relevant are Circadian Rhythms and Chronotypes when it comes to working with athletes?
Are potential future elite athletes slipping through the net because of insufficient sleep?
Do elite athletes for different sports tend to be of the same chronotype?
What are some ways we can help athletes who are suffering from inadequate sleep?
How useful are sleep trackers and wearables to athletes?
How much of a factor is the type of sport when it comes to sleep inadequacy?
Can athletes 'bank' sleep hourse and if so how long do saved hours last?
What strategies can we give to athletes to help them improve their sleep?

Useful Links

Centre for Sleep and Human Performance website
Centre for Sleep and Human Performance on Facebook
Dr Jonathan Charest on Twitter: @jocharest1

APRIL 5th - 'Sleep: The Silent Epidemic' with Jesse Cook, Clinical Psychology PhD Student and Sleep Researcher - recording available on all popular podcast apps!
APRIL 12th - 'Sleep Trackers' with Dr Olivia Walch, CEO of Arcascope, PhD Applied Mathematics - recording available on all popular podcast apps!
APRIL 19th - 'Sleep: Injury & Performance' with Dr Jonathan Charest, Director of Athlete Sleep Service at Centre For Sleep & Human Performance
APRIL 26th - 'In-Home Polysomnogram' with Dr Amy M. Bender, Director of Clinical Sleep Science at Cerebra, including results of my 30 night Sleep study! Amy was my guest in August 2021 in Ep63 ‘How Sleep Affects Sports And Fitness’.

Previous Episode

RCL54: Sleep Awareness Month Pt2 - ’Sleep Trackers’ with guest Dr Olivia Walch

After 18 months we're BACK! The response for last week's 'Sleep: The Silent Epidemic' episode has been fantastic - so very glad it has proved popular amongst the Runchatlive Community. We will continue to stream all episodes of the 'Sleep Awareness Month' LIVE to not just the STA YouTube Channel but also the Runchatlive Facebook Page so if you'd like to watch them live be sure to head to one of these sites at 8pm (GMT +1) every Tuesday in April.

In Part 2 of this month's 'SLEEP AWARENESS MONTH' on the Sports Therapy Association Podcast, we talk about 'Sleep Trackables' with special guest Dr Olivia Walch, CEO of Arcascope, a company that develops science-backed apps to help people fix their sleep and circadian rhythms.
With an estimated one in three people in the UK reporting regular sleep complaints, it is not surprising that sleep trackers have become enormously popular over the last few years. On waking up, our faithful Fitbit, Oura Ring or Withings Sleep Analyzer (to name just three) will inform you of the quantity & quality of your night's sleep, but just how accurate are they? Can the information these consumer sleep wearables provide be put to good use, or are they just another modern day gadget causing dependency and anxiety?
Special guest Dr Olivia Walch takes us through such questions to see how marketing claims hold up under the scrutiny of science, and discusses what role they can play in improving sleep health.

Topics discussed include:

What is the difference between sleep trackers and sleep wearables?
How long have sleep trackers/wearables been used to assess sleep quanitity/quality?
How has the technology in sleep wearables changed over time?
How do scoring algorithms work?
How accurate are popular sleep wearables from Garmin, Fitbit, Oura Ring, etc?
Can popular consumer sleep wearables measure stages of sleep?
What is the relationship like between sleep researchers and consumer brands for wearables?
If we see clients/patients are wearing sleep trackers, what sort of conversations should we be having with them?
Can sleep trackers cause 'orthosomnia' - the obsession for 'perfect' sleep?
Using sleep wearables to measure sleep consistency.
Controlling light exposure: one of the easiest & most accessible ways to improve sleep quality/quanity

Useful Links

Dr Olivia Walch website: oliviawalch.com
Arcascope website
Arcascope on Instagram: @arca.scope
Arcascope on Facebook
12 Tips on Getting Healthy Sleep (National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute)

About This Week's Guest
Dr Olivia Walch has been studying the mathematics of sleep for the last ten years, getting her Ph.D in Applied Mathematics from the University of Michigan in 2016. She is the CEO of Arcascope, a company dedicated to making science-backed apps to help people fix their sleep and circadian rhythms. Olivia is also co-editor of Political Geometry, a volume on the mathematics of gerrymandering, with Moon Duchin.
A huge thanks to Dr Olivia Walch for giving up her time to join us!
What is the Sports Therapy Association Podcast?
For those of you are unaware, in May 2020 I created the Sports Therapy Association Podcast, a weekly podcast with the mission of Putting the Evidence Back into Sports Therapy and Sports Massage Therapy. It gets streamed LIVE every Tuesday at 8pm (UK time) on the Sports Therapy Association YouTube Channel and is then uploaded to all popular podcast apps including Spotify.
Though it's not specifically about running related injury & performance, many of the topics covered will be useful to YOU, the listeners of Runchatlive Podcast, as we're essentially talking about issues that affect pain & performance. As is the case for Runchatlive, our listeners include health care professionals across the spectrum as well as active people of all levels looking for evidence informed strategies to stay fit and healthy!

This April 2022, we have a 'SLEEP AWARENESS MONTH', and because SLEEP is such a massively important topic, each weekly episode is being recorded live on not just the STA YouTube Channel but also the

Next Episode

RCL56: ’In-Home Polysomnography’ with special guest Dr Amy M Bender

And so we reach the final part of our 'SLEEP AWARENESS MONTH' on the Sports Therapy Association Podcast, being uploaded also to this Runchatlive Podcast. My special guest is Dr Amy M Bender, Director of Clinical Sleep Science at Cerebra, talking about 'In-Home Polysomnography' and sharing the results of my recent five week sleep study using the Cerebra Sleep System.
What is In-Home Polysomnography?
The most comprehensive form of sleep study currently available requires going to a sleep-lab. However, for many the sleeping environment is unnatural and equipment uncomfortable. A popular alternative is the ‘Home Sleep Apnea Test’ (HSAT), which though convenient only measures breathing and respiratory functions, not sleep quality.
Enter the ‘Cerebra Sleep System‘ – an in-home, self applied polysomnogram (PSG) that provides the quality diagnostics of an in-lab study with the convenience of Home Sleep Apnea Testing.

For those of you who like the nitty gritty, Cerebra Sleep System uses the patented algorithm Odds Ratio Product (ORP) that micro analyses the Electroencephalogram (EEG) signal providing a continuous measure of sleep depth, moving beyond conventional scoring methods to dig deeper into brain activity.

The Cerebra Sleep System can measure brain waves (EEG), eye movement (EOG), respiratory data, leg and body movements, pulse oximetry, and heart rate (ECG).

My Five Week Sleep Study using ‘Cerebra Sleep System’
My personal five week sleep study included:

Electroencephalography (EEG/brain waves).
Electrooculography (EOG/eye movements).
Electromyography (EMG/electrical activity of chin muscle).
Daily reaction time tests to track performance.
Questionnaires on perceived sleep quality, disturbances during the night.
Tracking of daily exercise & use of electronics before bedtime.

In this podcast episode, topics discussed included:

What are the benefits but also limitations of common consumer wearables like Fitbit and Oura ring?
How does the Cerebra In-Home Polysomnogram Sleep System differ from the above?
How useful is the data regarding the different stages of sleep, e.g. REM, N-REM, Deep Sleep, etc.?
How did Matt Phillips find sleeping with the Cerebra headset on?
How useful was it being held accountable each day by filling in questionnaires?
What was Matt's Sleep Study expecting to find by removing caffeine consumption after week one?
A look at the results from Matt's five week Sleep Study including:
- General Insights (sleep efficiency, sleep latency, reported sleep quality, and more)
- Actual sleep time per night
- Amount of waking up after going to sleep
- Effect of removing caffeine: evening sleepiness, reaction time, attention lapses
Take home messages from the study & Sleep Awareness Month

Useful Links

Cerebra Health Website
Dr Amy Bender Website
Dr Amy M Bender on Twitter: @sleep4sport

About This Week's Guest
Dr. Amy Bender is Director of Clinical Sleep Science at Cerebra, a digital health company in Canada focused on improving access to advanced digital sleep analysis and diagnostic sleep technology. She is a highly respected researcher with written publications, interviews for stories in Oprah Magazine and public speaking appearances including Ted Med talk. Dr Bender has worked with the National Hockey League, Canadian national team athletes & Olympic athletes, and is no stranger to sport herself with pastimes including mountaineering and Ironman Triathlon.
A huge thanks to all of our special guests during the 'Sleep Awareness Month':

Jesse Cook, Clinical Psychology PhD Student and Sleep Researcher
Dr Olivia Walch, CEO of Arcascope, PhD Applied Mathematics
Dr Jonathan Charest, Director of Athlete Sleep Service at Centre For Sleep & Human Performance
Dr Amy M. Bender, Director of Clinical Sleep Science at Cerebra

Please Support Our Podcasts!
If you appreciate what we do on Runchatlive Podcast and the Sports Therapy Association Podcast, please take a couple of minutes to leave us a rating & review. It really does make all the difference in helping us reach out to a larger audience. iPhone users you can do this from your phone, Android users you will need to do it from iTunes.