Kryo, Inc., the parent company of sleep technology brand ChiliSleep, is teaming up with the Cincinnati Reds and the Seattle Mariners Major League Baseball teams for a sports science collaboration.
This season, players will be able to use ChiliSleep’s OOLER sleep system, an advanced, temperature-regulated sleep tech that lowers body temperature to trigger deep sleep.
Being in the professional sports world, each team knew that deep sleep has restorative powers, including strengthened immune systems. And as injuries are on the rise this season, each team was eager to place even greater importance on sleep to aid soft tissue repair and shorten recovery time, according to a release.
These new sleep solutions follow an earlier study by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine that showed players’ strike-zone judgment got worse over the course of an MLB season. In fact, the study showed the rates were worse in September than in April for 24 out of 30 teams.
“Almost all cognitive mistakes that happen on the field are tied to fatigue, plain and simple. The exhaustion just isn’t there in April. Sleep deficit develops over the course of the season. We’re humbled to play a role in the success of America’s national pastime. Baseball reflects many aspects of American life, from culture to economics and technological advances, including optimized sleep,” said ChiliSleep CEO and Co-Founder Tara Youngblood.
Jeff Hoffman, starting pitcher for the Reds, knows firsthand how an exhausting travel schedule and sleep deprivation affects performance, and he began using the OOLER system this past offseason.
“The OOLER is helpful for all kinds of athletes,” Hoffman says. “For baseball players, specifically, we play 162 games all season, in the middle of the summer, so after being in the heat all day, repetitively, your night of sleep becomes incredibly important! Sleep is probably THE most important thing because you can’t get in the weight room and get the most out of your workout unless you get a good night’s sleep. For me, sleep definitely starts the cycle of our day, and for us to get the most out of our day, we have to get a good night.
