In a recent issue of ESPN The Magazine, Baxter Holmes wrote a fascinating feature about how PB&J has taken over the NBA. Nearly every NBA team now makes PB&J sandwiches readily available to their players. The Milwaukee Bucks do it big—their spread usually includes three nut butters, a wide assortment of jellies, Nutella and three different types of bread from a local bakery. NBA stars like Russell Westbrook, Damian Lillard and Steph Curry all religiously eat PB&Js for their pre-game snack.

But the pre-game PB&J obsession doesn’t stop at the NBA. Countless elite athletes in the NFL, MLB, NHL and PGA also rely on the classic sandwich.

Rob Gronkowski likes to have a little chocolate milk with his traditional pre-game PB&J. Andrew Miller—arguably the most dominant relief pitcher in baseball—always whips one up before he makes his way to the bullpen during the third inning. Derek Jeter took his pre-game PB&J about an hour before the first pitch. At roughly 5 p.m. prior to a game, Sidney Crosby scarfs down his mandatory PB&J. Dustin Johnson—who’s currently ranked as the No. 1 golfer in the world—was seen eating one during a round at last year’s U.S. Open (a tournament he won, by the way).

These are the elite of the elite, athletes capable of doing extraordinary things every time they compete. They’ve spent thousands of hours honing their bodies for victory. And they all rely on PB&J sandwiches—a snack most of us have been eating since before we were in grade school—for fuel during game day.

Here’s why the humble PB&J is a potent pre-game power up.

Carbs Count

“Peanut butter toast next to jelly toast. Isolated on white, shot from above.”

PB&Js are super simple, but there’s still a lot of room for variation in their preparation. To start, let’s establish a basic recipe:

• Two slices of bread
• Two tablespoons of peanut butter (typically one serving)
• One tablespoon of jelly (typically one serving)

Now, let’s whip up a hypothetical sandwich using popular conventional ingredients. We’ll start with two slices of Classic White Wonder Bread. We’ll add two tablespoons of JIF Creamy Peanut Butter. Then we’ll finish off with a tablespoon of Welch’s Concord Grape Jelly. Here’s what the nutrition facts look like for that hypothetical PB&J:

430 calories, 18 g fat, 2.5 g saturated fat, 450 mg sodium, 58 g carbs, 2 g fiber, 16 g sugar, 14 g protein

Let’s break down why this sandwich might work for an athlete as a pre-game meal.

The biggest plus is the high amount of carbs. To get as many carbs as you’d find in this PB&J, you’d have to consume more than two bananas. Most of the aforementioned athletes are eating their PB&Js one to two hours before game time, a window of time when carb consumption is crucial. Dr. Wayne Phillips, a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine, says, “When you consume carbs, your body converts them into a form of sugar called glucose that can be used for energy. The glucose, in turn, is changed to glycogen so that it can be easily stored in your muscles and liver for later use. It is the predominant storage form of glucose and carbohydrates in humans, and it’s an essential fuel source for the body during all forms of exercise.”

Prior to games and high-intensity training, simple carbohydrates are critical. Simple carbs are carbs that can be digested quickly. They’re made of just one or two sugar molecules, allowing them to be digested rapidly and produce energy quickly. A PB&J is high in simple carbs, thanks in large part to the fruit jelly or jam.

Running out of simple carbs during a game can make you feel like you’re moving underwater. Your first step will be slower, you’ll have trouble finishing plays, and your reactions won’t be as sharp. “Human bodies don’t necessarily stop when they run out of carbs, but they do slow down,” says Robert Anding, Director of Sports Nutrition at the Houston Children’s Hospital. When you see Russell Westbrook dive bomb his way through the defense and throw down a thunderous slam in the fourth quarter? Such an exquisite display of athleticism wouldn’t be possible if he didn’t adequately fuel up on carbs.

The protein provided by a PB&J is also a plus. Protein is the major player in muscle recovery, but it can also be used to provide fuel during high-intensity training in a process known as gluconeogensis. However, protein takes a while to digest and can make you feel full, so you don’t want to scarf down a ton of it prior to a game. The 14 grams in a PB&J is a nice amount, since it offers many of the benefits of pre-activity protein consumption without slowing you down.

The 450 mg of sodium is actually quite useful for an athlete. Though 9 out of 10 Americans consume too much sodium, increasing their risk of high blood pressure, heart failure and a range of other health issues, athletes are a different breed.

The recommended daily level of sodium intake is 1,500 mg—about what you find in 2/3 teaspoon of table salt. (Note: While many equate salt with sodium, sodium is in fact a component of salt. Table salt is about 40 percent sodium; the rest is chloride.) But that number is much higher for athletes who train and compete hard, since sodium is an electrolyte. Sodium helps maintain blood pressure and fluid balance throughout the body, and if you don’t have sufficient levels in your body, your muscles can weaken and cramp. Athletes need more sodium than the general population since they sweat more often and for longer durations, and sodium is lost through perspiration.

“Salty sweaters” are people who lose more sodium through sweat than the average person, and they need to consume even more sodium through dietary sources to prevent dehydration and cramping. Just how big a role can sodium play in athletic performance? Well, a 2015 study found that triathletes who replaced 71 percent of the sodium they lost during a Half Ironman finished an average of 26 minutes faster than triathletes who replaced only 20 percent of lost sodium.

RELATED: Grab The Salt Shaker: Why Athletes Need More Sodium

The last thing a professional athlete wants to feel during a game is bloated and sluggish. Anyone who’s tried to work out on a full stomach knows that pain—it’s like you’re moving around with a pair of ankle weights on. This is another area where the PB&J excels. Volumetrically speaking, a PB&J doesn’t take up a huge amount of space in your stomach. It’s nutrient-dense, but it won’t make you feel like you just ate a full Sunday dinner. That means a player can have it an hour or two before action without worry. It also cannot be overlooked that many of these athletes have been eating PB&Js for their entire lives. This means the sandwich can be a form of comfort before a high-pressure competition and that the athletes know exactly what to expect from it.

Unlike more complex dishes, there’s little risk that a PB&J will wreak havoc on your digestive system. The athletes know exactly how it sits in their stomach and how they feel after eating one, an important factor in sports nutrition. They can chow down on a PB&J without having to think twice, allowing them to focus on more pressing matters—like winning a ball game.

A Versatile Sandwich

Peanut Butter Banana Sandwich

It’s very easy to customize your PB&J to better fit your personal nutritional needs.

For example, when Dwight Howard was trying to clean up his sugar-laden diet, his nutritionist changed the recipe for his beloved PB&Js. Gone were the conventional ingredients and in came sourdough bread, organic peanut butter and low-sugar jelly. Thanks to the lactic acid that ferments the dough in sourdough bread, it’s easier to digest than conventional bread. The lactic acid also makes the vitamins and minerals in the flour more easily available to the body, and they render the gluten more digestible. Organic peanut butters are typically lower in sugar than conventional peanut butters, but they don’t sacrifice any of their valuable protein. Low-sugar jelly is pretty self-explanatory. Howard was already consuming way too many simple carbs in other areas of his diet, so he adjusted his PB&J to fit his needs.

RELATED: 9 Athlete-Approved Peanut Butter Sandwiches

When it comes to PB&Js, the options for customization are endless. Want more complex carbs, which give you a steady stream of long-lasting energy? Use whole grain bread. Less sugar? Use organic nut butters. A high-carb alternative to jam or jelly? Try honey or banana slices. No matter how you customize it, your sandwich will still have many of the same strengths as a conventional PB&J (high carbs, easy on the stomach, etc.), so it’s really about what works best for you.

The Verdict

Closeup horizontal photo of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich cut in half, inside white plate on textured table cloth underneath

There’s a reason so many elite athletes turn to PB&Js for their pre-game or halftime meal—it works. The simple carbs give players fast energy; the modest amount of protein helps them stay strong without weighing them down; and the sodium helps them stay hydrated. The modest-sized sandwich also doesn’t sit heavy in their stomachs, and the easy customization options allow players to tailor their sandwiches to their exact needs. Is a PB&J the only thing you should eat leading up to a game? Maybe not, but it can be a great complement to other simple pre-game snacks.

The PB&J sandwich has been a pre-game staple for years, and with so many players eating them religiously on game day, it doesn’t look like it’ll be going away any time soon.

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Considering they spend games zooming around on top of skates and adorned in heavy padding, estimating the height and weight of NHL players can be a bit tricky.

Luckily, The Athletic’s James Mirtle (with an assist from Natural Stat Trick) recently broke down the 2019-2020 rosters for all 31 NHL teams.

The average modern NHL player is 6-foot-1 and 199.3 pounds.

The New York Islanders are the heaviest team in the NHL, with an average player weight of 208.9.

The Vancouver Canucks are the tallest team in the NHL, with an average player height a hair under 6-foot-2 and just two players on their roster who stand under 6-foot.

Of course, many players in the NHL measure well outside the norm. Take the Nashville Predators’ Rocco Grimaldi, for example, who’s listed at 5-foot-6.

You can find a full breakdown of the data (including what countries and American states produce the most NHL players) here.

Photo Credit: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

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Hockey players are another level. Zdeno Chara, a defenseman for the Boston Bruins, stopped a screaming puck with his face in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals:

The incident left Chara with a broken jaw, an incredibly painful injury that would sideline most athletes for weeks. But the 42-year-old Chara refused to be taken out of the starting lineup.

Zdeno Chara answered two questions in written form because talking his difficult for him now: pic.twitter.com/WxrobJ5ZFi

— Dan Rosen (@drosennhl) June 6, 2019

During player introductions for Game 5, there was Chara, who received a massive cheer from the Boston faithful for his superhuman resiliency:

Zdeno Chara’s introduction should give every sports fan chills. Playing two nights after breaking his jaw. That’s our captain @NHLBruins #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/svDcGFKPhM

— Chad Amaral (@Chad_Amaral) June 7, 2019

Despite his jaw being wired shut, Chara went on to log nearly 17 minutes while registering two shots on goal. It wasn’t enough for the Bruins to nab a victory, but you can bet he’ll be back out there for Game 6.

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If anything, it may make eventually reaching an elite level in said sport more difficult.

A new study from the Penn State College of Medicine polled 91 professional, NCAA Division I and NCA Division III hockey players about their sports history. From ScienceDaily:

“After analyzing the data, the researchers found that the mean age of beginning any sport was 4.5 years, and the mean age of specializing in ice hockey was 14.3 years. Only 12 percent of the athletes specialized in their sport before 12 years of age. Most of the athletes played two to four sports as children, with soccer and baseball being the most popular in addition to hockey. The mean age of specializing in ice hockey—around 14—was consistent across professional, NCAA Division I and NCAA Division III players.”

“If you only play one sport, you (do) miss out on sports diversification, which is the idea that being a really good soccer or tennis player may help you be a really good ice hockey player,” Matthew Silvis, a researcher on the study and the team physician for the Hershey Bears minor league hockey team, told ScienceDaily. “We’ve seen a lot of professional athletes coming out in support of this, saying that by playing a lot of sports you’ll learn many skills and work different muscle groups that will help you if you specialize in one sport later on.”

This was a rather small sample size, but bigger studies have found similar results. For example, a 2017 study from the Rothman Institute at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital analyzed 3,090 athletes (503 high school, 856 collegiate and 1,731 professional) and found that the average high school athlete began specializing in their sport at 12.7 years old while the average collegiate athlete specialized at 14.8 years old and the average pro athlete specialized at 14.1 years old. One of the most telling findings in the study was that only 22.3% of professional athletes said they “would want their own child to specialize to play a single sport during childhood/adolescence.”

A 2017 study from the University of Wisconsin found that high school athletes with a “high specialization classification” had an 85-percent higher incidence of lower extremity injuries than high school athletes with a “low specialization classification.” Essentially, athletes who specialized were found to be at a much higher risk of lower extremity injury than athletes who play and train in multiple sports.

Six-time NHL All-Star John Tavares is a great example of how multi-sport youth athletes can ultimately blossom into superior hockey players. Growing up in Ontario, Tavares traded in his skates for a pair of cleats and a lacrosse stick every summer. He only began specializing at age 16, and he believes his background in lacrosse gives him a definitive edge on the ice.

“My mom never really believed in the summer hockey, all year-round. I needed a break and I always looked forwarded to the lacrosse season. And when hockey season came around I was really looking forward to that. It was good both ways to help myself in both sports,” Tavares told NHL.com in 2009. “The biggest is moving in traffic, shooting in traffic, making plays while guys are on you…When you’re able to do that, you’re able to draw guys toward you, make those plays in traffic, I think it creates a lot of chances offensively. Also rolling off checks — when you roll off checks or lean into guys, use your body to create room, you do a lot more of that in lacrosse because it’s such a possession game. You learn to make room for yourself, like in hockey…(It) definitely translates a lot.”

USA Hockey’s American Development Model, an initiative designed to help more American kids “play, love and excel in hockey”, strongly encourages kids to play multiple sports during their childhood and pre-teen years. “I like the fact that kids are encouraged to play other sports. Hockey is a great sport, but playing other sports definitely helps you become a better hockey player,” NHL all-star and 2014 U.S. Olympic captain Zach Parise said of the ADM.

Photo Credit: francisblack/iStock

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At the time of this writing, the Buffalo Sabres’ young phenom currently boasts more points (49) than stars like Patrick Kane (47), Alex Ovechkin (45) and Sidney Crosby (43).

Eichel, a 22-year-old center, is one of the most physically freakish players in hockey. He placed 3rd in the Fastest Skater Event at the 2018 NHL All-Star Game, and his strength is nothing short of herculean.

You can’t survive in the NHL without spending serious time training off the ice, and Eichel has been a notorious gym rat since his early teens. While clicking around on YouTube the other day, we discovered this video of a 16-year-old Eichel hang cleaning 300 pounds, and making it look easy:

That video came from elite strength coach Ben Bruno, who trained Eichel in his younger days. Seeing the wiry young hockey phenom crush a 300-pound Hang Clean gives you an idea of how strong and explosive he was, even in high school.

Photo Credit: RC/Getty Images

RELATED: Master the Hang Clean in 4 Simple Steps 

After all, they were just the second expansion team in the NHL, NBA, MLB or NFL since 1960 to reach the championship game or series in their inaugural season. The 1967-68 St. Louis Blues were the other team to accomplish the improbable feat, but they also played in a league that featured only 12 teams.

Go back and look at any preview feature for the 2017-2018 NHL season, and you’ll find the Golden Knights picked to finish dead last. Considering how the team was built, such predictions seemed logical. As an expansion team, LVGK had to largely rely upon poaching players from existing teams to build their squad. But other teams were able to protect between nine and 11 players on their roster, forcing the Golden Knights to assemble a group wrought with role players and guys who simply weren’t valued all that highly around the league. The roster wasn’t without talent, but it was largely a team of misfits and castoffs. That’s why the Golden Knights were considered a 500-1 shot to win the Stanley Cup at the start of last season.

It begs the question—how did a team with so little promise on paper go on to play for a championship? The mindset and chemistry of that Las Vegas Golden Knights team should inspire team sport athletes and coaches for years to come.

When looking back at quotes from LVGK players and coaches during their remarkable season, one thing is crystal clear—it was a team without egos. It was a team of players who felt disrespected and undervalued. When you put a lot of those guys on the same team and get them working toward a common goal, remarkable things can happen.

“We were looking for the most talented people we could get but they had to be hard-working because you can accomplish things with a team of workers,” general manager George McPhee told The Globe and Mail in January 2018. “We wanted low-ego people who were ready to work … We don’t have a face for our franchise. It’s all about the logo, the team. So far, it’s working.”

It’s not just lip service, as the Golden Knights elected not to name any one individual as team captain ahead of the season. “Everyone in this room leads in their own little, certain ways. Which brings us closer and tighter as a group,” defenseman Deryk Engelland told The Sin Bin of the decision.

While every coach preaches the importance of playing as a team, it’s often a platitude that goes in one ear and out the other. But the Golden Knights truly embraced a phrase that all too often serves as little more than a meaningless cliche.

“I’ve heard it over the past 10 years, ‘Leave your ego at the door,’” right winger Alex Tuch told NHL.com during the middle of last season. “But I’ve never seen it like this, honestly. No one’s treating someone like a lesser human because they’re a lesser player.”

That lack of oversized egos helped foster a tremendous sense of team pride. The players knew that to win games, every man would have to outwork their opponent. They knew that if they wanted to be anything more than a walkover team, they could not rely on individual displays of brilliance to make it happen. “We realize we’re not going to outskill teams. We’ve got to outwork teams in order to be successful,” defenseman Nate Schmidt told the Las Vegas Review-Journal in November 2017.

The Golden Knights also had the perfect leader for this blue-collar team. Head coach Gerard Gallant has two simple conditions to earn playing time—work and compete. “If you work and compete for him like he says you’ll get your ice time. He wants to win. Guys came from teams that maybe the coach was hard on them or they didn’t get the chance or the ice time, and they got that chance here. (Coach) is very fair with giving you chances to play and if you make a mistake he might say something to you on the bench but two seconds later he’s sending you out there again,” forward James Neal told the Las Vegas Sun in April 2018.

It created a culture which emphasized effort and enjoyment above all else, which was a welcome departure from the pressure-packed environments which plague many pro locker rooms. “One of the first things he says (at the start of the season) is, whatever happens this year, I want you guys to have fun,” winger Jonathan Marchessault told SI.com in January. “Everybody’s like, ‘Wow, I’ve never heard that from a coach.’”

Most importantly, the team truly believed in one another. They played fearless hockey all season, and they didn’t let outside noise dictate the goals or standards they strive for. “We weren’t satisfied at the beginning, we weren’t satisfied at Christmas, we weren’t satisfied at just being one of the best teams. We want to be the best one,” Neal said after the Golden Knights punched their ticket to the Stanley Cup Finals. “When you get a group of guys to believe in each other, amazing things can happen.”

Ultimately, the Golden Knights fell just short of winning the 2018 Stanley Cup. But with their coaching staff and player core returning largely intact, and a set of values in place that helps the team be more than the sum of their parts, we expect them to make noise for years to come.

Photo Credit: David Lipnowski/Getty Images

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The Vegas Golden Knights, in their inaugural season in the NHL, have made it all the way to the Western Conference Finals, where they’re currently facing off with the Winnipeg Jets and a very large human being named Daniel Byfuglien. The Knights appear to have two very distinct goals in this series: win it and put Byfuglien on the ice. Achieving the former remains to be seen. Achieving the latter, though, is off to a poor start.

Byfuglien stands 6-foot-5 and weighs a good 260 pounds, measurements that more closely resemble an NBA power forward, so you can imagine the problems the Golden Knights might run into trying to bring him down. You know, like this:

Try to hit Dustin Byfuglien at your own peril pic.twitter.com/22RHUrPKHl

— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) May 13, 2018

Byfuglien has been doubling as a brick wall for the entirety of the playoffs. Look what he did to poor Joel Erikkson from the Minnesota Wild in the first round:

DUSTIN BYFUGLIEN DESTROYS JOEL ERIKSSON EK WITH AN ABSOLUTELY MASSIVE HIT! pic.twitter.com/uqJH7OMWFu

— NHL Daily 365 (@NHLDaily365) April 12, 2018

And here he is holding two Nashville Predators at bay, using one arm to disrupt both.

Dustin Byfuglien is a monster. Handling a Predator with each arm. pic.twitter.com/wowwbFihvX

— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) April 30, 2018

So, when Golden Knights big-hitter Ryan Reaves claimed he was stronger than Byfuglien after Game 1, then went after him in Game 2, the result was about what you’d expect.

Ryan Reaves goes to hit Dustin Byfuglien and gets dropped pic.twitter.com/Suqa5uaqwd

— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) May 15, 2018

Guys, stop trying Byfuglien. For your own health.

Now more than ever, professional athletes are taking the sentiment to heart. Gone are the days of pre-game Big Macs and postgame six packs. Modern athletes know that if they want to play, feel and think at an elite level, nothing matters more than what they put inside their body.

But as hard as professionals push themselves during training, practice and games, it can be difficult to address all of their nutritional needs without supplementation.

“As an athlete, you’re constantly dealing with nutrient deficiencies—whether you realize it or not. You could have a perfect diet, but when you train that hard, it can be difficult at times to get (enough nutrients) without additional supplementation,” says Kylene Bogden, Performance Dietitian for the Cleveland Cavaliers. However, whole foods will always trump pills and powders when it comes to effectiveness and long-term sustainability. That’s exactly why many professional sports teams are turning to nutrient-packed juices and shots as a way to get more good stuff inside their players.

Lumi is one company behind many of these performance-enhancing elixirs. Over 40 professional sports teams utilize their juices and nutrition shots. The company’s products are all cold-pressed, certified organic and 100% juice. The Cavaliers have utilized a number of different juices and nutrition shots over the years, including those from Lumi and a local company called Anna in the Raw. While Bogden might be hesitant to drop a handful of pills in a player’s palm, she has no issues recommending them the right juice or nutrition shot.

So, what kind of ingredients can be found in these health-enhancing drinks? Lumi sent me a variety of their shots to sample for myself. The Hot Shot, for example, is a two-ounce shot of beet, lime and jalapeño. Beet juice is high in nitrates, which allow blood to pump through the body more efficiently and improves endurance. The United States Women’s National Soccer Team is known to consume beetroot juice for this very reason. The heat in the Hot Shot—and there certainly was some heat in the sample I consumed—comes from a compound in the jalapeños known as capsaicin. Capsaicin is what gives certain peppers their spiciness, but it also has strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects.

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The Fully Loaded shot, a 2-ounce shot of broccoli leaf, lemon and ginger, packs 35% the RDV of vitamin C and 20% the RDV of vitamin A. Vitamin C is critical for growing and repairing tissue all over the body, and vitamin A serves many of the same purposes. The shot is also high in magnesium, which Bogden says is a critical nutrient for elite athletes. “Most pro athletes, across the board, struggle to consume enough enough magnesium to meet training demands. Magnesium helps with muscle contractions, but it can also aid in digestion and improve sleep quality, as well,” Bogden says.

The Gold Rush shot, a 2-ounce shot of turmeric, pear, ginger and cayenne, offers big benefits for the population at large. While cayenne brings the same capsaicin-related benefits as jalapeño, and ginger has powerful medicinal properties, it’s curcumin—the active compound in turmeric—that really gives this shot its vitality.

A plethora of research has proven curcumin to be a potent fighter of inflammation. Inflammation is the body’s natural response to injury, infection or disease. Its purpose is to protect the body and let it heal.

But chronic inflammation can become a health risk. Many common conditions—such as asthma and arthritis—are classified as “inflammatory,” and inflammation can contribute to more life-threatening diseases like cancer and cardiovascular disease. Examine, an independent site that collates scientific research and disseminates information on supplementation and nutrition, points to five separate studies regarding curcumin’s effects on inflammation before concluding that “there appears to be a decrease in disease states or conditions characterized by inflammation associated with curcumin ingestion,” and that curcumin “does not appear to be too discriminatory in which inflammatory states it benefits.”

So whether you’re dealing with soreness after a workout or a more serious inflammation-related condition, curcumin can help get you right. “An inability to control blood sugar, depression, mood swings—all of those things are byproducts of inflammation. So believe it or not, curcumin is a way to not only improve recovery time, but also help to improve mood and cognition,” Bogden says.

In an age where more professional athletes than ever are gravitating toward plant-based eating, these types of nutrition shots and juices are resonating with players. Many feel more comfortable slugging a drink filled with fresh fruits and veggies than popping colorless pills, and once they learn about the performance benefits certain ingredients and nutrients can offer, they’re more likely to make them a habit.

“In general, they’re realizing that ‘wow, I feel lighter, I can wake up easier, I don’t feel as sluggish during practice when I adopt more of a plant-based approach,” Bogden says. “I’ve helped them make the connection between the way their body feels and how they’re playing and how foods play such a critical role (in that). They understand the correlation. For example, if you have a sleepless night before a game, magnesium can help. It’s not just ‘here’s another pill because it’s good for you.’ I find when I provide really specific examples as it relates to performance, compliance improves tremendously.”

Photo Credit: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images, LumiJuice.com

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The Mile High City.

Sitting exactly 5,280 feet above sea level, Denver has the highest elevation of any major U.S. city. This gives the professional sports teams who call it home an invisible edge that’s all too real for opponents.

Since 1975, the Denver Broncos sport the best home record in the NFL. Since 2007, the Colorado Rockies have the 14th-best home record in the MLB—yet rank dead last in away record during that same span. Since 2003 (the longest data set I could find), the Denver Nuggets have the fourth-best home record in the NBA yet rank 13th in away record.

Coincidence? I wouldn’t count on it. Denver’s sky-high altitude rages war on visitor’s bodies. The air is actually thinner, meaning each breath they draw contains less oxygen than they’re accustomed to. It’s also more difficult for the body to move that oxygen from the lungs into the bloodstream. This isn’t a big deal for tourists, but for those who are expected to undergo intense physical activity—such as professional athletes—the effects can be suffocating. Heart rate, breathing rate and blood pressure all increase substantially as the body goes into overdrive in an attempt to deliver more oxygen to cells. Fatigue increases and rate of perceived exertion increases. It’s a stressful change, and one that favors the hometown team in venues like Mile High Stadium, Coors Field and the Pepsi Center.

John Fox, who served as the Broncos head coach between 2011 and 2014, believes the edge is undeniable. “It’s probably the best home-field advantage in the NFL,” Fox told DenverBroncos.com in 2013. “That’s why I think our home record is so good.” The teams do everything possible to play up this X-factor. The Broncos have erected a large mural outside the visitor’s locker room which makes reference to the elevation, and the Nuggets’ PA announcer has been known to outline the symptoms of altitude sickness prior to tipoff.

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Former New England Patriots linebacker Teddy Bruschi says it was impossible to ignore the altitude anytime he played a road game in Denver. “It’s real,” Bruschi told ESPN. “It affects you. The oxygen you’re breathing into your muscle isn’t the same. You feel yourself gasping.”

Speaking of the Patriots, perhaps no team knows the damage Denver’s Rocky Mountain air can wreak than this modern dynasty. Tom Brady has a career record of 4-7 at Mile High Stadium, a rare blemish on an otherwise impeccable career. It’s his worst winning percentage at any venue, which is why some writers have dubbed Mile High Stadium as Brady’s personal “House of Horrors.”

Retired NBA center Chris Andersen has provided perhaps the most colorful description of Denver’s altitude advantage, once telling Grizzlies.com playing at the Pepsi Center “was like (having) two midgets pulling on my lungs and they wouldn’t let go.” He’s far from the only basketball player to feel that way—shortly after Andray Blatche visited Denver as a member of the Brooklyn Nets, he told the New York Daily News, “I thought my lungs were going to explode…I thought I ran about 10 miles.” Former NBA player and coach Byron Scott said he was “dying” and felt like he “needed (an) oxygen mask” when he played his first game in Denver.

But why don’t Denver players themselves suck wind during these same games? After all, they’re breathing the same air. It’s all about adaptation.

The human body can adapt to high altitude on a hormonal level, but it takes several days to weeks of 24/7 exposure. As the body adapts, the kidneys produce higher amounts of a hormone called erythropoietin. Higher level of erythropoietin leads to increased red blood cell production. Red blood cells carry oxygen to the muscles, and the more red blood cells you have, the more oxygen can be delivered. Once the increase of red blood cells plateaus and stops, you’re fully adapted to the altitude. Staying hydrated during acclimatization can help the body adjust more efficiently. Additionally, acclimatization to high altitude can produce a greater number of microscopic blood vessels and enhance the body’s ability to process lactic acid.

According to Lumen Learning, the time it takes to fully acclimate to a higher altitude can be found by multiplying the altitude in kilometers by 11.4 days. Using this formula, it would take approximately 18 days for the body to fully acclimate to Denver’s thin air. Upon returning to lower altitudes, the body’s higher red blood cell count will persist for about two weeks following acclimatization. It’s for this reason that the United States Olympic Committee maintains a training center in Colorado Springs, Colorado (which is located about an hour south of Denver, but sits roughly 755 higher).

Denver players have a biological advantage during home games, and some of their teams’ biggest successes have come by exploiting that edge. The Broncos made the Super Bowl in 2013 by employing a blistering no-huddle offense which ran an average of 72.1 plays per game. Since 2003, just one team has averaged more plays per game. Combined with the altitude, the approach exhausted opposing defenses and helped the Broncos set a new record for points in a season. The 2012-2013 Denver Nuggets went 57-25 (the franchise’s best record since joining the NBA in 1977) by employing a blazing uptempo style which saw them average the most made field goals (40.7) and points (106.1) per game by any team that season. They recorded an astonishing home record of 38-3.

Even LeBron James, one of the world’s fittest athletes, is not immune to this element. “This is a tough (place) to play in,” James told NBA.com in 2013. “This altitude is nothing to play with.”

Photo Credit: Andy Cross/Getty Images

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It doesn’t exactly evoke chiseled athletes at the apex of human performance. But the connotations of mid-day naps are changing quickly, as sports teams are leaving no stone unturned in their quest to gain an edge. Clemson football’s new $1.5 million complex includes a nap room with eight bunk beds, and the Boston Red Sox recently installed a nap room at Fenway Park. International soccer powerhouse Real Madrid have 81 private bedrooms inside their team facility. Napping during the day has become second-nature for many NBA players, including LeBron James and Steph Curry, and Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw always takes a brief nap three hours prior to first pitch.

We’ve long known that sleep has a robust connection to athletic performance, but how powerful can a power nap really be? STACK dove into the research to see just how beneficial a session of mid-day shuteye might be for an athlete.

The Research

Research on direct links between napping and athletic performance is surprisingly lacking. One of the few studies that fits into this category is a study that was published in the Journal of Sports Science. The study examined how a mid-day nap might affect a variety of mental and physical performance metrics after a night of partial sleep deprivation (in this case, participants slept for four hours—from 11:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m.—the previous night). One group took a 30-minute nap commencing at 1:00 p.m. the following day, while a control group simply sat quietly during this time. The nap group experienced improvements in heart rate, alertness, sleepiness and both 2-meter and 20-meter sprint times. Mean reaction times and grip strength were not affected.

“These results indicate that a post-lunch nap improves alertness and aspects of mental and physical performance following partial sleep loss, and have implications for athletes with restricted sleep during training or before competition,” the authors concluded. Obviously, improved sprint speed is a huge benefit for athletes. Improved alertness is another big plus. Though this study might not have found napping to improve reaction time, others have.

A study from NASA looked at how “strategic naps” might improve the performance of long-haul flight operations. The crew members were randomly divided into two groups. One was allowed a “40-minute nap opportunity” during flights while the other was not. The nap group participants slept for an average of nearly 26 minutes during each nap period. At the conclusion of the study, it was found that the nap group demonstrated a 16% improvement in median reaction times and a 34% improvement in performance lapses over the non-nap group. Improved reaction time has obvious benefits for any athlete, as does enhanced focus.

Napping can also help athletes get into a better headspace before training, practice or competition. Researchers from the University of Michigan wanted to see how a midday nap might affect frustration and impulsive behavior. Adult participants—all of whom had a consistent sleep schedule for at least three days prior to the test—were given questionnaires that inquired about their sleepiness, mood and impulsivity. They were also given some cognitive tasks. After this initial testing, one group was assigned to take a 60-minute nap while the other had to watch a nature documentary. Afterwards, they completed the same questionnaire and tasks again. Not only did the nappers report feeling less impulsive, but they exhibited greater patience and commitment to solving the tasks than those who didn’t nap. While participants might not have run a 40-Yard Dash or tested their Vertical Jump, this is still valuable insight for an athlete. Imagine the difference between showing up to practice disgruntled and with a short fuse or showing up focused and eager to compete. It’s hard to quantify, but there’s no doubt attitude can have a significant impact on your performance.

Naps and Your Memory

Naps have also been found to aid memory. You don’t have to doze off for an extended period of time to experience this benefit, either—a study found that even a 6-minute nap was sufficient at improving memory. Improved memory offers numerous benefits for an athlete. It could be the difference between remembering the complicated play you installed three weeks ago or totally blanking and blowing your assignment.

A study in the journal SLEEP found that Stanford basketball players were able to dramatically improve their on-court performance simply by increasing their total amount of sleep time. While the study didn’t look at naps exclusively, napping did play a key role in the participants’ goal of sleep extension.

Per Standford Medicine:

The researchers asked the players to maintain their normal nighttime schedule (sleeping for six to nine hours) for two to four weeks and then aim to sleep 10 hours each night for the next five to seven weeks. During the study period, players abstained from drinking coffee and alcohol, and they were asked to take daytime naps when travel prohibited them from reaching the 10 hours of nighttime sleep.

While the athletes averaged about 8.45 hours of sleep per night during the sleep extension period (up from 6.66 hours of sleep per night at baseline), that still left them significantly short of their 10-hour goal. Therefore, we can conclude that frequent naps were utilized throughout the study period.

The Results

The results speak for themselves. At the end of the study, players ran 282-foot sprints (equivalent to running the full length of the court three times) at an average of 15.5 seconds. That was a significant improvement over the average 16.2 seconds they achieved before the sleep extension. But perhaps even more surprising was the dramatic increase in shooting accuracy. More sleep helped the players increase their free-throw percentage by an average of 9 percent and their 3-point percentage by an average of 9.2 percent. Reported fatigue levels also decreased, and players reported improved performance in practice and games.

A midday nap has been found to improve sprint speed, reaction time, alertness, sleepiness, patience, focus and memory. All of these things can help athletes raise their game in a multitude of ways. While more research needs to be done on the connection between napping and athletic performance, what’s available is extremely encouraging. It’s also important to remember that naps don’t need to be exceedingly long to give you a boost. Napping for too long during the day can actually cause issues, as it may disrupt your nighttime sleep schedule or lead to prolonged sleep inertia (grogginess and and decreased cognitive function).

The National Sleep Foundation says 20 minutes is all you need to receive improved alertness, enhanced performance and increased mood. They also warn against napping for 30 to 60 minutes, as that amount of napping allows you to only briefly hit the deeper stages of sleep, which can result in prolonged sleep inertia effects. If you’re fortunate enough to find a 90-minute window to nap, and you know it won’t negatively effect your nighttime sleep, go for it. The NSF says that you should give your body time to go through one complete sleep cycle so you’ll wake up feeling refreshed and re-energized.

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