The Top 10 Tips to Improve Your Sleep as a Soccer Player:
The quicker you are able recover; the better an athlete you will be.
The best athletes are able to recover the quickest.
Why?
The best athletes focus on every single detail possible to make sure they bounce back and recover as quick as possible after trainings and games so they can come back faster, stronger and more powerful.
When you work out, you are actually breaking yourself down and creating inflammation.
You actually get stronger and become a better athlete when you properly rest and recover.
And, no, I am not telling you that you will become better just my resting. There needs to be an optimal balance between training and recovering (which is hard to find, I know).
The number one predictor of injury is too much load (too much training).
If you train too much and you are not balancing that with proper rest, you are much more likely to get injured.
I always say to my athletes and try to tell myself; “what’s the point of constantly trying to improve your performance if you are consistently getting small nagging injuries?”
You need to recover as hard as you train!
When you recover as hard as you train, you can accumulate more quality hours of training into your body, which will make you a better athlete over time.
It doesn’t matter how smart/hard you train. If you are not recovering, you will NEVER improve.
If you train intensely, you will be sore, sometimes you will be drained and tired, so listening to your body is key.
You aren’t going to be able to completely avoid soreness or being tired, but your goal should be to minimize it as much as possible and trust how your body feels.
I want to talk about the most important recovery method for you as a soccer player…
And it’s free!
I get way too many messages about massage guns, cryotherapy chambers and different supplements, but I don’t get enough questions on sleep.
If the benefits of sleep were in supplement form, lines at supplement shops would be out the door!
But, that’s not the case and it’s not easy to be consistent with your sleep.
But, it’s also not easy to be a top soccer player, so you choose…
Before you go and spend money on extravagant gadgets or supplements that promise you that you will be the next Cristiano Ronaldo, you should think about perfecting your sleep.
Without proper sleep, you will never reach your full potential in life as a human or an athlete.
Most of your muscular development and nervous system adaptations will happen during sleep.
If you don’t get enough quantity or quality of sleep, you won’t get maximum results from your training.
Your goal should be 8-9 quality hours of sleep per night.
If you are too busy to get 8 hours of sleep, it’s better to cut the foam rolling, stretching, yoga and instead spend the time on sleep.
I could write about the countless studies of why sleep is important for you, your appetite, your mental health, your happiness, and especially your fat loss.
But I’m not going to bore you with the sciencey stuff. That’s not the approach that I take with improving your ability as a soccer player and an athlete.
I want to give your practical takeaways that you can implement right now and see improvement!
10 Key Tips To Improve Your Sleep as a Soccer Player:
Tip 1- Keep a Consistent Sleep Schedule:
–As best as you can, try to go to bed and get up at the same time every single day. As boring and annoying as it may sound, it may make the biggest impact on how you look, feel and perform.
-Your body loves routines, so why not give it what it loves?
-This will set your body’s internal clock (circadian rhythm) so it expects sleep at the same time every night and expects you to wake up at the same time every day, which is what we used to do in Paleolithic times. We would go to sleep when the sun went down and rise when the sun came up.
Tip 2- Create a Good Sleep Environment:
-Your bedroom should be quiet and dark, not too hot, not too cold.
-The temperature is best between 64-68 degrees Fahrenheit (18-20 degrees Celsius for you Europeans).
-Try to make your room as dark as possible. If your curtains don’t make your room dark enough, do us both a favor and spend the money on black-out curtains!
Fun Fact: as many of my friends know, I like to keep my room as dark as possible. If you don’t know by now, I travel very often; I’m a nomad. I am constantly sleeping in different rooms and environments.
So, what do I do to make the room as dark as possible?
I carry around a roll of black masking tape everywhere I go.
If I see any light coming from a clock or TV, I immediately cover it with the tape. My girlfriend always loves to make fun of me for it 🙂
-If you can’t buy blackout curtains, buy yourself a sleep mask, or at least some black tape. It’s well worth the investment.
-If you can’t afford a sleep mask, make your own! I just moved to Latvia and lost my sleep mask on the way over here, and don’t know where to buy one over here.
So what did I do?
You may laugh at this one…
-I used a black sock and used my famous black masking tape and I made my own. Wow! It sure as hell hurts when I have to rip it off in the morning.
-Also, make sure your mattress and pillows are comfortable!
Tip 3- Use Your Bed for Sleep and Sex Only:
-Don’t read, watch TV, listen to music while in bed. You want to be able to create a separation between entertainment and rest, and work and rest.
-Don’t text friends or check your Instagram DM’s while in bed. I’m sure your friends can wait until tomorrow. And the better you sleep, the more fun you’ll be anyways.
-This is vital to pay attention to because of the blue light from the phone (which will keep you up at night).
Tip 4- Don’t go to bed if you’re not tired:
– There is no need to force yourself to go to sleep. Struggling to fall asleep leads to frustration.
-It’s not a battle. It’s just about letting your mind and body go. There’s no value in trying hard. As we both know, the harder you try at something, the harder it is to succeed.
-This is why I find it very important to properly align your body clock (by going to sleep and waking up at the same time every day), and to have a consistent unwind routine. When you do this, your body will consistently be ready for bed around the same time every night, so you don’t have to deal with tossing and turning.
-If you’re not sleeping after 20 minutes, get out of bed and go to another room. Maybe do some light stretching or make yourself some chamomile tea.
-Even take a warm shower — until you find yourself getting drowsy.
Tip 5- Create a Bedtime Ritual or Routine:
-Your body loves routines and rituals.
-Create yourself a consistent sleep ritual that allows you to relax and unwind.
-Anything you find relaxing an hour or so before bed lets your body know you’re transitioning from awake time to sleep time.
-Physically or psychologically stressful activities trigger the release of the hormone cortisol and adrenaline, which will keep you alert and agitated.
Tip 6- Steer clear of alcohol, caffeine, nicotine and other chemicals that interfere with sleep:
–Caffeine, of course, is a stimulant, so this means avoiding coffee, tea, chocolate, colas (shouldn’t be drinking this anyways) and some pain relievers four to six hours before bedtime.
-I recommend cutting caffeine around 12-1 PM, because caffeine has a half-life. That means if you drink 200mg of caffeine around 1 PM, you will still have 100mg of caffeine in your system around 1 AM, which is definitely not good for your sleep.
-Although, alcohol may initially make you drowsy, it can interfere with the quality of your deep sleep during the night. If you want to drink 1-2 glasses of wine, try to do that at least 3 hours before bed.
-If you go out and booze with the boys and fall asleep the instant you get home, what can I tell you? Just try to keep it to a minimum
Tip 7- Avoid big meals right before bed:
-A few slices of pepperoni pizza (which I hope you’re not eating often :)) will stimulate your digestive system and probably give you heartburn, which doesn’t promote much relaxation.
-Digestion also requires a lot of oxygen and energy. When that energy and oxygen is being used to digest your food, it is taking away from the energy and oxygen that your muscles and brain need to properly recover from your hard training.
-Also, cut your fluid intake about 3-4 hours before your bedtime so you’re not making too many nighttime trips to the loo in the middle of the night.
Tip 8- Limit Your Light After Dark:
–Natural sunlight keeps your body clock on a healthy sleep-wake cycle, but exposure to bright artificial light in the evening, especially from electronics, will disrupt it.
-Bright light (ceiling lighting), and especially the blue light your laptop or cell phone throws off and interferes with the release of melatonin, your body’s natural sleep hormone.
-I advise dimming your lights or using light lamps instead of your bright ceiling lights.
-Try getting off the phone at least 90 minutes before bed. That TikTok can wait until tomorrow .
-You can also buy some blue light blocking glasses, and throw those on around 2 hours before bed. They’re not the most attractive but the better sleep you get, the more attractive you’ll be anyways.
Tip 9- Nap Early, If You Need One:
-If you’re able to squeeze in a nap, good for you, or shall I say, luck you! I wish I could nap during the day, but I’ve classified myself as a “non-napper.”
-If you do nap, keep it short and sweet, around 20-60 minutes.
-If you didn’t sleep well the night before, you can go for 90 minutes (which is one sleep cycle).
-A good rule of thumb is to time your nap for about seven to eight hours after you wake up.
-Napping too close to your bedtime can interfere with your sleep drive.
10.Don’t work out too close to your bedtime:
–You know how much I love training and how important we both know it is, but it’s not a good idea before bed time.
– Most people need to finish up their physical activity at least 3 hours before lying down for the night.
-If you work out too close to bed time, you will stimulate your body and mind which will make it much harder to fall asleep.
I’ve added an extra tip for you…
Tip 11: Make Sure You Follow Through:
-Create yourself a routine that works for you and will help you recharge your mind and body in the easiest and most effortless way possible.
When you can become consistent with your sleep, you will be unstoppable in body and mind. I guarantee it will make you feel so much better on and off the pitch.
But, like I tell my 1 on 1 clients, you never know how powerful good, healthy habits are until you do them consistently day to day, week to week, month to month.
Once you start to feel the amazing benefits of sleep, you won’t be staying up with your boys until 3 AM playing Fortnite anymore!
I’m not saying that you can never do it. I would just advise doing it less often!
As always, if you have any questions, reach out! I am always here to help!