Trial reportScientific reports2026
Strategic daytime napping enhances agility and lowers perceived exertion but does not improve fatigue resistance in adolescent soccer players.
Trial report in Scientific reports, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The effect of daytime napping on the athletic performance of team ball sports athletes: systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in physiology · 2026Pooled it
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Daytime naps are increasingly adopted by athletes to alleviate subjective fatigue and restore alertness, yet their impact on high-intensity anaerobic tasks remains unclear. Both nap duration and circadian timing may modulate psychomotor readiness, perceived exertion, and fatigue resistance, but evidence from team-sport settings is limited. This study aimed to determine how different daytime nap durations (25 vs. 45 min) influence agility, repeated-sprint performance, and psychophysiological responses—including perceived exertion and mood—in adolescent soccer players. Sixteen competitive male adolescent soccer players (all intermediate chronotypes) completed three randomized, crossover sessions: no nap (N0), 25-min nap (N25), and 45-min nap (N45). Nap compliance was objectively verified by actigraphy. After a 60-min post-nap wake-up period, participants performed the Pro Agility Test and a repeated-sprint ability (RSA) protocol. Psychophysiological outcomes included ratings of perceived exertion (RPE), Hooper Index, visual analogue scales (VAS) for alertness, and Profile of Mood States (POMS). Agility improved in a clear dose–response pattern (N0 = 5.40 ± 0.34 s; N25 = 5.18 ± 0.23 s; N45 = 4.98 ± 0.29 s; p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.57). RPE was significantly lower after N45 versus N0 (Δ = −1.4; p < 0.01, ηp2 = 0.45). RSA indices showed no overall condition effect, although best sprint time improved after N45 versus N25 (p < 0.01) with greater fatigue accumulation across repeated sprints (p < 0.05). Mood analysis revealed positive associations between fatigue and RPE and negative associations between vigor and RPE, indicating that mood states are associated with perceived exertion. A 45-min early-afternoon nap meaningfully enhanced agility and reduced perceived exertion but did not improve fatigue resistance during repeated sprints. Coaches should weigh the neuromuscular and perceptual benefits of longer naps against potential fatigue trade-offs when designing pre-competition recovery strategies.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.