Work, midweek beers, quality time with the better half – there’s never enough time to recharge the batteries ready for training. If only you had a portable bed…
The British have a strange relationship with the siesta. While most of us would love to knock off work for a nap after lunch, it’s viewed as being downright lazy. But among elite athletes, where marginal gains can mean a crucial extra yard of pace, the value of taking forty winks is being appreciated more and more.
Hence the odd sight of a series of cubes landing at Swansea City’s training ground. Called Snoozeboxes, these portable structures are inflated to create rooms with enough space for a comfy double bed. As Garry Monk puts his charges through double sessions, the lads can catch some shut-eye in between the morning and afternoon drills.
“During pre-season, when training volume is at its highest, it’s important that we provide the right tools for all players,” explains Jonny Northeast, the club’s head of sports science and fitness. “Strength and power is reduced if they aren’t getting appropriate rest, which can lead to a decrease in performance.”
Sleep research has been linked to faster sprint times and a decrease in fatigue. “Initially, players couldn’t believe what they were seeing,” laughs Jonny. “But the uptake with the pods has been great. The ground has been a ghost town between sessions, with players making a quick escape to get their heads down.”
Nick Moore is a freelance journalist based on the Isle of Skye, Scotland. He wrote his first FourFourTwo feature in 2001 about Gerard Houllier's cup-treble-winning Liverpool side, and has continued to ink his witty words for the mag ever since. Nick has produced FFT's 'Ask A Silly Question' interview for 16 years, once getting Peter Crouch to confess that he dreams about being a dwarf.
