Rams making different travel plans than 49ers
· Yahoo Sports
The Los Angeles Rams are taking a completely different approach in their travel plans to Melbourne, Australia than the San Francisco 49ers are for their season-opening game. Whereas the Niners will leave nine full days before the game, the Rams will reportedly arrive just one day before kickoff, according to ESPN’s Dan Graziano.
This lines up with something Sean McVay said four months ago on the Up and Adams show:
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“We were like SEAL Team 6,” coach Sean McVay said of the team’s trip to London. “We’re in and out before you know what happened.”
How will those plans impact the players in Australia?
For clarity, when I was researching this piece, I found it much simpler to ignore mentions of days of the week. There is a 17-hour time difference at that time of year which is all you need to know.
Circadian rhythms and two ways to balance them
Your circadian rhythm is your body’s natural 24-hour internal clock. It controls when you sleep, wake, eat, and release hormones.
Schedule changes, such as shift work or jet lag from travel, or when you eat and exercise, can affect this natural rhythm, resulting in poor sleep quality and daytime fatigue.
Kyle Shanahan wants to give his players ample time to acclimate to the time change:
“Usually when you travel with a [16]-hour flight, you don’t want to get there the day before because you lose like a whole day there or two and you’re just messed up,” Shanahan said.
“The people we’ve talked to, you don’t feel normal until like the third or fourth day,” Shanahan said. “So, we’d like to go out seven days early. But since it takes a day and a half to travel there, we’re going to go nine. I think we leave on Wednesday and land on a Friday. And so, then we get there about seven days before our game.”
The issue with this approach is that they’ll face the same acclimation period when they return stateside. Will they be fully recovered for their Sunday afternoon game 10 days later?
McVay and the Rams are taking the opposite strategy:
“It’ll be a similar approach, and really the goal for us is to try to keep guys in as close to a rhythm and routine as possible,” McVay said. “This is new to us, even going this far. I trust our group and most importantly, what’s going to be best for our players. We always try to take that into consideration.”
A possible Rams itinerary
All times are PST
- Leave 5:00 am Wednesday
- Arrive 9:00 pm
- Bed 11:00 pm
- Breakfast 8:00 am Thursday
- Game 5:35 pm
With the exception of weights and some treatments, the typical gameday routine can be followed with some modifications.
The players can follow their typical sleep routines on the flight home, and they shouldn’t upset their circadian rhythms. As an added bonus, the Rams have an extra 28 hours, compared to the Niners’ prep time, to prepare for their Giants game.
The only real obstacle should be finding rooms with blackout curtains and quiet rooms so the players can sleep during their body clocks’ hours.
Oh…and having Matthew Stafford’s back hold up over the two 16-hour flights.