Does repeated daytime napping over consecutive days enhance physical, perceptual, and cardiac autonomic responses in high-level adolescent basketball players?

Adolescent athletes experience insufficient sleep, impacting their health and performance. Napping has emerged as a promising sleep management strategy to counteract these consequences, with acute benefits on performance. However, the impact of repeated napping remains unclear. This study examined the effects of a five-day micro-cycle of 60-min daytime nap opportunities on physical performance, as well as perceptual and physiological responses in high-level adolescent athletes. Twelve high-level male adolescent basketball players (15.75 ± 0.62 years) participated in a randomized, counterbalanced crossover study with two conditions: five consecutive napping days (NAP) and five consecutive control (no napping) days (CON). Day- and night-time sleep was monitored via actigraphy, while perceptual (Hooper questionnaire) and physiological (Heart Rate Variability, HRV) responses were assessed at rest before and after the nap and control conditions across five consecutive days. Basketball-specific performances including offensive and defensive agility, upper body power, repeated jumps (RJ), and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) after RJ were evaluated 90-min following both conditions on days 1 and 5. NAP increased 24-h total sleep time (p = 0.003, d = 0.40), with longer and better quality naps toward the end of the micro-cycle. Napping was associated with an increase in total HRV power, and a decrease in subjective fatigue, muscle soreness and RPE (0.002 ≤ p ≤ 0.035, 0.28 ≤ d ≤ 2.10). Five consecutive days of napping improved agility and jump performance (0.001 < p ≤ 0.015, 0.83 ≤ d ≤ 1.61). Repeated napping helped to meet sleep recommendations, improved perceptual and physiological responses, and sport-specific abilities, highlighting its relevance as a practical strategy to support recovery and well-being in adolescent athletes, particularly during training camps.