Delayed Morning Training, Sleep, and Change-of-Direction Performance in Badminton Athletes

Condition(s) studied

Investigational drug(s) / intervention(s)

Usual Morning Training Schedule: Participants assigned to the usual morning-training group will begin each scheduled morning training session at 7:00 AM. The intervention will last for 3 consecutive weeks, with five morning-training sessions per week and 15 sessions in total. Each session will last approximately 90 minutes and will include standardized warm-up, badminton-specific technical training, footwork and change-of-direction exercises, multi-shuttle or tactical training, and cool-down. Training content, duration, workload, rest intervals, coaching arrangements, venue, diet, and recovery procedures will be matched to those of the delayed morning-training group.

Delayed Morning Training Schedule: Participants assigned to the delayed morning-training group will begin each scheduled morning training session at 9:00 AM, representing a 120-minute delay from the usual 7:00 AM schedule. The intervention will last for 3 consecutive weeks, with five morning-training sessions per week and 15 sessions in total. Each session will last approximately 90 minutes and will follow the same standardized training content and workload as the usual morning-training group. No mandatory roll call, early class, group activity, or other required task will be scheduled before the 9:00 AM training session.

Study summary

This randomized controlled trial will investigate whether delaying the start of morning training from 7:00 AM to 9:00 AM improves nocturnal sleep and change-of-direction performance in elite badminton athletes. A total of 38 athletes with an established morning-training routine will be randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to either a usual morning-training group starting at 7:00 AM or a delayed morning-training group starting at 9:00 AM. Both groups will follow the same training content, duration, intensity, coaching arrangements, and recovery procedures for three weeks.

Nocturnal sleep will be objectively monitored using wrist-worn activity monitors, with total sleep time as the primary outcome. Change-of-direction performance will be assessed using the modified 505 test. Additional outcomes will include sleep opportunity, sleep efficiency, sleep onset latency, nighttime awakenings, bedtime and wake time, nap duration, 24-hour total sleep, training load, and training adherence.

The study aims to determine whether a later morning-training schedule can provide athletes with greater sleep opportunity without compromising training quality or physical performance.

Eligibility

Primary outcome measure(s)

• Average Nocturnal Total Sleep Time During the Intervention Period — Throughout the 3-week intervention period, from Day 1 through Day 21
  Nocturnal total sleep time will be objectively measured using a wrist-worn activity monitor. Total sleep time is defined as the total number of minutes classified as sleep within the main nocturnal sleep period, excluding periods classified as wakefulness. The primary outcome will be calculated for each participant as the mean nocturnal total sleep time across valid target nights during the 3-week intervention period. Higher values indicate longer nocturnal sleep duration.

Trial sites (1)

More Capital University of Physical Education and Sports, China trials in China

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