Individualized Sleep Hygiene Across the Competitive Season in Female 200 m and 800–2,000 m Runners: A Narrative Review

Abstract

Sleep is an important component of recovery in high-performance sport, but current evidence does not support treating sleep hygiene as an isolated determinant of competitive performance. This narrative review examines how individualized sleep-hygiene strategies may be incorporated across a competitive season in female runners specializing in the 200 m and 800–2,000 m events. The available literature includes studies in track-and-field athletes, female athletes, soccer players, endurance runners, and broader elite-sport populations. Across these sources, sleep education, regular sleep-wake schedules, sleep extension, strategic naps, reduced pre-sleep stimulation, and individualized monitoring are commonly discussed as practical approaches for supporting sleep opportunity and recovery. The practical emphasis may differ according to event demands: sprinting places a high premium on neuromuscular power, reaction, and high-intensity performance, whereas middle-distance preparation also involves substantial aerobic and interval-training loads. However, direct studies comparing seasonal sleep interventions in female 200 m and 800–2,000 m runners remain scarce. Recommendations should therefore be individualized and periodized, and interpreted as supportive components of training and recovery rather than as guaranteed means of improving official race times. More sport, sex, and event-specific research is needed to clarify the magnitude and consistency of these effects.