If you’ve been following anything online, you’ve probably heard about the blossoming love story between Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce. Both have big reputations in their respective careers, so how can they do it all? It turns out Kelce counts on his sleep.
Long story short, their relationship started with a friendship bracelet Kelce was trying to give Swift at the Kansas City stop of her enchanting Eras Tour. After revealing this attempt was unsuccessful on his podcast, New Heights, the couple got together and have since been seen at multiple Kelce football games, even making a brief appearance on Saturday Night Live.
Being a world famous musician and one of the best tight ends in NFL history, means busy schedules for both Swift and Kelce. But there’s one thing Kelce won’t stop prioritizing and that’s his sleep.
In a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight, Kelce’s father Ed explained that they are both very committed to their craft and are both supportive of each other. Including Travis’s need for sleep.
“I think she realizes how committed Travis is to sleep, 10 hours a day, when your body is going through this kind of thing,” Ed Kelce said. “So I think they’re both very supportive.” (1)
While ten hours of sleep may seem like a lot, for an athlete that is taking multiple tackles every week, it’s a necessity. Plus Kelce has been rehabbing an ankle injury all season, making the ten hours seem more than needed.
The recommended sleep for an average adult ranges between seven and nine hours per night. The amount of sleep needed is unique to each person; some can function and be happy with seven hours while others need nine hours.
Ryan Horton, the previous Director of Applied Sports Science at Georgia Tech and owner of Horton Barbell, told Sleepopolis about the immense benefit sleep has on athletes. .
Through his work overseeing the sleep program for the Georgia Tech football team, he saw first hand that adequate sleep resulted in better performance for the players.
“It’s hard to understate just how important sleep is for performance,” Horton said. “We saw a direct correlation between sleep quality and performance on the field. And while performance on the field can be somewhat subjective, improved sleep metrics also correlated with improved physical testing that we would gather as well.”
By getting a sufficient amount of sleep, it allows muscles to regenerate and for tissues to be repaired and rebuilt if needed. Theses processes mainly happen because blood flow increases to muscles during sleep, allowing them to receive the oxygen needed for repairs.
In fact, Horton explained that research has shown that getting less than 7 hours of sleep per night puts athletes at a 1.7x greater risk of injury.
While sleep is only one part of the puzzle to becoming a successful athlete, it seems like Kelce really is the man for understanding sleep is vital to his performance on and off the field.
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Sources
1. Lee, Tionah. Entertainment Tonight. October 25, 2024. https://www.etonline.com/travis-kelces-dad-ed-says-his-son-and-taylor-swift-are-a-wonderful-couple-shares-favorite-song.
Horton, Ryan. Personal Interview. October 2024.