Helping Elite
Athletes and
Sports Teams to
Sleep Better
Unlock your peak performance with Sleep Athletic’s cutting-edge sleep enhancing strategies developed for elite sport. Elevate your game through scientifically-backed sleep techniques and aids designed for serious competitors. Experience how optimised sleep quality can boost your performance and recovery, setting a new standard in athletic excellence
EXPERT SLEEP CONSULTANTS
SLEEP BETTER, FEEL BETTER, PERFORM BETTER, RECOVER FASTER.
Sleep, recovery and performance all go hand in hand, yet most professional athletes and sports teams have yet to make this vital connection. Our comprehensive sleep coaching programme is a pioneering, exciting new development in the world of specialist sports coaching, and involves so much more than just sleep hygiene techniques. We’ve got all bases covered.
We offer a complete sleep coaching package delivered by qualified experts – screening and sleep health assessment, training and consultation, routine monitoring, and evidence-based bespoke interventions – to help each athlete sleep better, so they feel better, perform better and recover faster.
The Sleep Athletic team of professional clinical psychologists and data analysts take the latest sleep science to the next level, using a data-driven approach to help map sleep onto performance and recovery data. Achieving fully optimised sleep is crucial for athletes aiming to perform at their best in every aspect. Our vast experience has shown that enhancing sleep quality improves overall wellbeing, and dramatically boosts both performance and recovery.
Our clients include:
Sleep Health Screening
Our ASHQ-R questionnaire is a brief online tool specifically developed for elite athletes.
Sleep Guides
Our easy to understand sleep guides contain strategies, tips and guidance specifically for the demands of elite sport
One-on-one Sleep Support
Expert sessions tailored to individual athletes focused on overcoming sleep issues and boosting sleep quality
Sleep Training Workshops
We offer training workshops for both players and staff, providing education and strategies on a broad range of sleep topics.
Expert Sleep Consultation
Sleep Athletic offers support to coaching staff to help them develop their understanding of sleep issues
Book Your FREE Consultation Today
As featured in:
WHY DO ATHLETES NEED BESPOKE
SLEEP SUPPORT?
Research shows that athletes are more prone to developing sleep problems.
Elite athletes actually need more sleep than non-athletes but they get less!
This is massive. It could be the difference between winning and losing. The extra 1%.
Yet very few sports teams and athletes are taking sleep seriously, all too often relying on generic advice from people without the expertise to make a real difference.
We believe that expert sleep support is the next big breakthrough in elite sports coaching.
For athletes, sleep routines are often upended by post-match adrenaline and racing thoughts, hectic schedules, travel, and overexertion. Lack of optimised sleep increases your risk of injury, extends your recovery time, and can lead to mood disturbances and even a lack of confidence. We can help you make sleep an integral part of your training regimen.
Our expert team will quickly assess your needs and offer tailored and flexible one-to-one sleep coaching to help you optimise your sleep and reach optimal performance levels.
HOW WE HELP
OUR PACKAGES
Meet The Team
WHO ARE WE?
MEET DR. CHRIS JAMES BSc, MSC, DClinpsych, CPsychol, AFBPsS
CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST & ATHLETE SLEEP SPECIALIST, FOUNDER OF SLEEP ATHLETIC
At Sleep Athletic, we are a team of genuine experts in all things sleep and sport. Backed by our extensive training and practice in clinical psychology, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), and behavioural sleep medicine, we are unique in being able to provide truly comprehensive support to athletes and coaches who want to take their sporting performance to the next level.
We’re headed up by Dr. Chris James, a fully-qualified, HCPC registered and highly-experienced Consultant Clinical Psychologist. Dr. Chris has over 15 years of experience working in the NHS as a practicing psychologist and clinician, including within a specialist sleep centre providing behavioural sleep medicine interventions.
Dr. Chris has spent his entire career helping people overcome the main barriers to change – motivation, thinking and behaviour habits, lack of self-belief, and equipping people with the skills and knowledge they need to maintain their positive changes.
Dr. Chris founded Sleep Athletic because he believes that elite athletes deserve gold standard sleep support, and he recognised the huge need for qualified sleep input within sport. He is an expert in sleep and regularly provides consultation to organisations and has featured in various publications including The Athletic and the BBC. He also runs an insomnia sleep clinic, providing CBT-I support.
We are also qualified experts in mental health. This is essential for a truly comprehensive sleep support programme, as we know that sleep and mental health are a two-way street. We’re experienced in helping athletes suffering from stress, anxiety and mood difficulties which may be impacting sleep, and vice versa.
MEET DAVID THORNE BSc, MSC
DATA CONSULTANT & STRATEGIC ADVISOR
David is a psychology and neuropsychology graduate experienced in analysing sleep data and making sleep data and research accessible and engaging for athletes. This experience is key in creating sleep reports for athletes and staff that are concise, easy to understand and actionable, making a real difference to their wellbeing and performance.
David has a deep understanding of sports, and uses this knowledge to provide strategic input regarding the clubs and athletes that are a strong fit for Sleep Athletic, as we believe the key to a good working relationship is finding teams and athletes who share our key values. David also regularly produces original content and articles on the relationship between sleep and sport with the aim of education and raising awareness.
Testimonials
WHAT OUR CLIENTS ARE SAYING ABOUT US
Since our sessions, I have felt much more confident in making decisions and tweaks around my sleep and recovery. I feel more confident going into competitions knowing what I can do to improve my sleep so that I can perform to the best of my ability.
Gold Medallist
Although I didn't have any specific concerns or queries on sleep quality per se it was interesting to learn about sleep patterns and how to manage trying to squidge in more sleep, especially with my busy schedule! It was also useful to consider sleep patterns around competition timings and how I could optimise that."
Rower
I would highly recommend Chris to anyone struggling to sleep.
Double Paralympic Medallist,
World Champion
GB Beach Sprint Rowing
Accepting that getting a few hours of high quality sleep, rather than forcing my sleeping pattern into disrupted sleep, has improved my performance in a high-performance decision-making role.
Since our sessions, I have felt much more confident in making decisions and tweaks around my sleep and recovery. I feel more confident going into competitions knowing what I can do to improve my sleep so that I can perform to the best of my ability.
Gold Medallist
Although I didn't have any specific concerns or queries on sleep quality per se it was interesting to learn about sleep patterns and how to manage trying to squidge in more sleep, especially with my busy schedule! It was also useful to consider sleep patterns around competition timings and how I could optimise that."
Rower
I would highly recommend Chris to anyone struggling to sleep.
Double Paralympic Medallist,
World Champion
GB Beach Sprint Rowing
Accepting that getting a few hours of high quality sleep, rather than forcing my sleeping pattern into disrupted sleep, has improved my performance in a high-performance decision-making role.
Membership & Accreditation
WE’RE ON YOUR SIDE
REACH PEAK PERFORMANCE
Interested in optimising your sleep through our pioneering expert sleep coaching programme? Or curious about how we can help?
Reach out to us using the contact form below:
OUR NEWS & MEDIA
- The Athletic January 2024 – Mental health in the WSL and Premier League –Â Read Article
- FMPA July 2023 – Elite Football Teams Mustn’t Sleep On Sleep Science – Read Article | Download PDF
- FMPA December 2022 – Elite Football Teams Mustn’t Sleep On Sleep Science – Read Article | Download PDF
- Psyche Guides June 2022 – How to sleep well again – Read Article