It was in late November, just as Rutgers’ academic schedule was winding down and with Thanksgiving approaching, when Greg Schiano let the world on a little secret.
His players were tired. And it wasn’t just from a physically demanding Big Ten season. They were sleep deprived as a result of the demands of daily COVID-19 testing, the Rutgers coach said.
“One of the biggest challenges is our guys have to get up earlier than they normally do to do the testing before we get started with meetings,’’ Schiano said. “One or two days (waking up early for testing) is OK but we test every day and we practice Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. So those three days are really hard; they’re physically demanding and they’re not getting a lot of sleep because we’re also getting into the thick of academics.’’
In an effort to study ways for his players to improve their sleep, the Rutgers football program partnered with a Finland-based company that created technology to measure sleep and recovery data.
“This technology is a great tool in our approach to player development, and level of care we strive to provide our student-athletes,” Schiano said in a press release Thursday announcing Rutgers’ partnership with Oura Health. “We talk about the importance of sleep and recovery for practice and competition as well as its impact in the classroom.’’
Rutgers is becoming one of the first college football programs in the country to adopt a wearable smart ring that provide information for the optimal athletic performance. It does so by tracking all stages of sleep and measuring key physiological signals such as temperature, heart rate, heart rate variability and respiratory rate.
Rutgers officials said the team’s medical staff will evaluate and quantify how a player’s body recovers and use that data to inform future training activities.
“Oura Ring allows us to show the players how they can improve their sleep and overall performance in a data-driven way,’’ said Schiano, whose Scarlet Knights will meet Maryland in a Big Ten affair Saturday (12 p.m., Big Ten Network) in College Park, Md.
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Keith Sargeant may be reached at [email protected]. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here.
