Most people know my son Andrew Burgess is a very talented runner. His successes range from national champ in the Steeple Chase 15-16-year-olds in 2016 in Houston, Tex., to Rowan County individual XC winner and team champions with West Rowan High School in 2016. He works very hard and does very well in school. His diet is a lot better than it used to be, but like most parents I struggle with him getting enough sleep each night.

Oh, he gets eight hours of sleep (as he states with great satisfaction). “That’s all I need,” he says because he researched it. Well, the challenge was on. I told him I believe an athlete, especially a teenage athlete, needs more per night. And guess what? I am right! This is what I found:

Most healthy adults need seven to nine hours of sleep per night; children and teens, however, need more. Studies have shown that teenagers need nine to nine and a half hours of sleep per night. As a teenage athlete, you might even need more than that. It depends on what training phase you are in. When a teenage athlete trains, he or she needs more calories to perform at the optimal level. As with an increase in calories, these young athletes need an increase in quality sleep, too.

Your body repairs itself when you are asleep. This is not just true for teenagers but is for any age. If you do not get enough sleep, you will not perform at your best, as many studies have proven. A study at Stanford University tracked the basketball team for several months. The researchers made the players sleep an extra two hours per night. It showed that their speed increased by 5 percent; their free throws improved by 9 percent and they were more accurate and had faster reflexes after getting the extra sleep. They also felt happier. Similar studies were done with football players and other athletes. Now the sad part is that most teenagers, whether they are athletes or not, get only seven and a quarter hours of sleep per night. So what can they do to get the sleep they need?

WebMD mentioned the following four tips:

1. Get on a regular schedule; go to bed at the same time every day.
2. When traveling, get used to the new schedule by arriving a few days early or even a few weeks to get acclimated so your body can adjust to a normal sleep schedule.
3. Avoid sleep medication, unless prescribed by a doctor; over-the-counter sleep medications disturb the quality of sleep but even more importantly, the performance the next day.
4. For teenage athletes, avoid caffeine two to three days before competition. You want to avoid anything that can disturb your sleep. For athletes 21 and up, include the avoidance of alcohol too. Alcohol also disturbs a good night’s sleep.

Of course computer and gaming right before bed makes it very hard to get a good night’s rest, but that’s a whole other column! For now I can’t wait to tell my son my findings! I hope he takes this to heart as he is really serious about improving his performance. Maybe when our teenage athletes hear that LeBron James sleeps about 12 hours per night — and Venus Williams, Usain Bolt and Maria Sharapova get up to 10 hours per night — they will be more motivated to get more zzzzzzzzzs!

Ester H. Marsh is health and fitness director for the JF Hurley Family YMCA.