NBA And NFL Stars Swear By Sleep Science To Bring Their A-Game, Now You Can Too With This App

If you snooze, you lose, right? In fact, the opposite is true; studies have shown that more shut-eye can actually lead to more wins. Rise Science co-founders and sleep experts Jeff Kahn and Leon Sasson have known this for years, and they partnered with major sports teams—from the Chicago Bulls to the Dallas Cowboys—to boost performance with sleep science. Not only did Rise Science bring more wins but their techniques even reduced injury rates. 

While partnered with Rise, the New England Patriots and the Dallas Cowboys saw 2 Super Bowl wins between them. As a result of this overwhelming success, Kahn and Sasson became convinced that their solution could benefit everyone. 

They poured their knowledge of sleep science into the RISE app, and with the help of $15.5 million from the same investors behind Fitbit, Peloton, and Facebook, they launched in 2020. The app took off with up to 30 thousand downloads per week, and just 11 months later, they have 1 million users improving their sleep to improve their performance in whatever they’re pursuing. 

So, how exactly did Rise Science help athletes perform better, and how can their RISE app help you?

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How Rise Science Showed The Sports Industry That Better Sleep Brings Wins

Rise Science began a decade ago when founders Jeff Kahn and Leon Sasson began their investigation into sleep science at Northwestern University. In 2011, when their team’s research was published in an academic paper, they caught the eye of sports organizations seeking a way to improve their athlete’s performance for an edge over their competition. 

Jeff Kahn and Leon Sasson were catapulted from academics to working alongside the New England Patriots and Dallas Cowboys to improve performance through sleep science. Kahn admitted in an interview with Crunchbase: 

“I would get phone calls from Bill Belichik (head coach of the New England Patriots) to talk about how the team’s trends were for the week. It was crazy that we had convinced college and professional athletes to do something, which is getting more sleep amongst everything else they could be doing.”

For both teams, a focus on sleep led to remarkable results. After using Rise Science’s technology, 97% of players reported sleeping an extra hour per night, resulting in an incredible 70% decrease in injury rates for the season and 8% faster reaction times. Rise Science then took its proven techniques to a roster of other high-profile football teams and the results were just as impressive. In fact, the increased performance that better sleep brought saw teams across Rise Science's roster of clients win an astonishing 2 Super Bowls and 4 National College Football Championships.

Rise transitioned from the football field to the basketball court to help players in the NBA. The Chicago Bulls partnered with Rise to research optimal sleep duration for peak athletic performance in the hopes of changing players’ rest patterns for the better. The research provided by Rise led the Chicago Bulls to shake up their training schedule by moving practice sessions by an hour to give players an extra half hour of sleep per night.

So, now we’ve seen how RISE led to more wins on the field, here’s how it can help you in your daily life. 

A Century of Sleep Science in One App 

‍We’ve all been there at some point. It’s 3 am, and you just can’t drift off. So you search for the “best ways to get to sleep.” Perhaps you invest in a weighted blanket, expensive mattress, or some guided meditation. However, the best solution to a good night’s sleep isn’t a fancy duvet, it’s science—RISE packs 100 years of research in this field into an app designed to give you the best possible rest.

“Everyone knows sleep is important. Most people believe that it has something to do with their sleep quality, or some sort of external factor they maybe don’t have control over. But what the science very clearly shows is there are only two things that matter: how much sleep deprivation you have at any given time, and whether you’re in alignment with your circadian rhythm” – Rise Science CEO Jeff Kahn.

As Kahn explains, 100 years of sleep science has found two main inputs to get the most out of sleep—sleep debt and circadian rhythm. Put simply, this means how much sleep you should be getting and when you should be getting it. 

Circadian rhythm is a biological process that determines a person’s energy levels and their best times for sleeping. Sleep debt is just that; when you get fewer hours than you need, the deficit causes your focus, energy, and wakefulness to all take a dive. RISE uses smart tracking tools to calculate your sleep debt and chart your circadian rhythm, then the app guides you to change your daily behaviors to pay down that debt and schedule your day in line with your circadian rhythm; this allows you to feel and function your best every day.

Big Investors Back RISE as a Leader In Sleep and Energy Management

We are all trying to get a better night’s sleep for more energy while we’re awake, and we are spending a fortune to achieve it. In fact, according to Statista, approximately $430 billion is spent each year on sleep aids, with that number predicted to reach $585 billion by 2024. 

With years of experience working with athletes and Fortune 500 companies, RISE is poised to play a major role in the burgeoning energy management industry and big investors are already backing it. For instance, one investor had this to say about RISE: 

“RISE is not just another sleep app or wellness gimmick. Rise Science has already proved its effectiveness with professional athletes and Fortune 500 sales teams, and now its proprietary intel is available as an all-in-one lifestyle tool that incorporates the scientific truths behind sleep, wellness, energy, and performance” - Chi-Hua Chien, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Goodwater Capital.

Rise Science is backed by the same investors behind household leaders in wellness and technology such as Fitbit, Peloton, and Facebook, and now they are supporting RISE with a total of $15.5 million worth of investment. 

Fortune 500 Companies Are Praising RISE For Improving Their Workforce

The benefits of better sleep aren’t limited to sports, businesses can make big wins too. For instance, Rise Science partnered with a Fortune 500 company to find out just how beneficial better sleep could be for their employees, especially those who work in the demanding and high energy sales environment. The results, just like on the sports field, were increased focus, drive, and productivity for improved performance.

When sellers used RISE to bring down their sleep debt, their outbound call volume jumped up by 50%, which resulted in an increase of 14% in monthly revenue compared to sellers not using the app. 

Overall, an astonishing 95% felt that the app made them more productive at work. So, instead of chugging that sixth cup of coffee in the afternoon, why not check out what RISE can do for your own productivity in the workplace. 

RISE Uses Innovative Technology That Improves Your Sleep To Boost Your Energy 

RISE not only uses smart technology to track sleep debt, it gives users personalized advice on what they need to do to pay it back.  

How does the app work? First, the app pulls historical data from your phone to work out how much sleep you need based on your past sleep times. Next, it tracks sleep and wake-up times using phone behavior—like when you touch your phone first and last thing—and calculates your sleep debt.

It even uses your latitude and local weather to work out how much light you’re getting and then, with your sleep times, predicts your circadian rhythm. 

The app uses this information to tell you how long you’ll be groggy, when your peak focus times will be, and when you should start winding down for better sleep and more energy the next day. With these innovative methods, the RISE app functions as your personal energy management tool.

RISE and Shine 

If better rest and energy optimization can make such a big difference for athletes, just imagine how much it could do for you. So don’t sleep on it. Start making big wins in your life by downloading the RISE app today.