The final whistle. Now what? – Anna West on the hardest hour of the day
What you'll learn in this story
- Why sleep right after a match is often harder than you'd expect
- Why Anna West sometimes tells professional players to wear sunglasses in the hotel corridor
- Which simple recovery tools help when your mind is still racing
- Why acceptance often works better than trying to force sleep
Three climate zones, nine hours of time difference, 90 minutes of adrenaline. What Sleep and Recovery Specialist Anna West advises when you can't sleep after exercise – whether you've played 90 minutes or watched them.
It's 11.42 pm in a hotel in Houston. The final whistle blew seven minutes ago. The team bus rolls to a stop outside the entrance, a door slams, footsteps on carpet. Then someone slots the keycard into the lock – and the two big spotlights above the bed flick on like studio lighting.
That, says Anna West, is exactly the wrong moment.
'I always say: when you walk into the hotel room at that point, put on sunglasses if you have to, or pull your hood up over your head. It sounds silly. But the light in that moment can cost you the whole night.' – Anna West, Sleep and Recovery Specialist
Anna laughs when she tells the story. But the image sticks.
Why you can't sleep after exercise: the adrenaline trap
If you've spent 90 minutes in the red zone, you can't just lie down and fall asleep. That isn't weakness. It's biology. Anna West has spent years working with professional footballers who shuttle every week between the Champions League, the Bundesliga and the national team. She has an image for it that everyone understands.
'It's like a car on the motorway. You're doing 200 km/h. You can't just hit the brakes and expect it to stop dead. What happens is you skid, you lose control.'
What happens in the body is a hormonal spiral. Adrenaline surges. Start forcing yourself to sleep on top of that and you produce cortisol as well. And cortisol blocks the production of melatonin – the very hormone we need right then.
'The harder you try to sleep, the further away sleep gets. That's the trap,' Anna says.
Acceptance, not optimisation
Anna's first step isn't a tool. It's a mindset.
Acceptance instead of optimisation. Set yourself the goal of being asleep in 15 minutes because the match protocol says so, and you'll hit a wall. Accept that the first 30 or 45 minutes are a transition – winding down, not braking – and you're more likely to get there.
'The first half hour isn't sleeping time. It's preparation. Once you understand that, you calm down. And when you calm down, you fall asleep faster.'
How to fall asleep after exercise: a menu, not a prescription
A menu of tools instead of a one-size-fits-all prescription. Anna doesn't want to prescribe anything; she wants to offer a selection that everyone can pick from to find what suits them.
- A warm shower. Your core temperature rises briefly, then drops – a signal to sleep.
- Indirect light. Where you can: spotlights off, desk lamp on. Where you can't: sunglasses or a hoodie as you walk into the room.
- Conscious breathing. Four seconds in, seven seconds out. Three minutes is often enough.
- A book. Crime, fiction, anything is better than social media.
- A film, too. If it helps you switch off – yes. But Anna draws a line:
'If a film takes you into a different headspace for 10 minutes, that's probably more helpful than forcing yourself to skip it. But: 10 minutes, then check in. Where am I now? Am I ready to give it a go?'
What she doesn't recommend: doomscrolling. Match analysis on X. Comment threads. 'That isn't winding down,' Anna says. 'That's full throttle with a different steering wheel.'
Meditation? Only if you like it.
One thing Anna says often surprises coaches.
'I've met so many players who knew meditation was supposed to be good for them. They went at it so tensely that it did the opposite.'
If it doesn't come naturally, don't force it. There are better tools for your own head. As Anna puts it, drily: 'We don't need a perfect ritual. We need one that actually works.'
Can't sleep after watching the football? Same biology, different game
Plenty of people know this feeling from the fan zone, too. You get home at night, completely shattered – and still lie there wide awake. Your mind is still running through the last passage of play, the penalty, the equaliser in stoppage time. Your body played the whole match along with them.
What's true for a professional after the match is almost identical for fans after a night in the fan zone.
'Fans don't play 90 minutes. But they've got the same system. They need the same tools.'
Adrenaline after a last-minute win. The buzz after a dramatic penalty shoot-out. Cortisol after a defeat. The body doesn't distinguish between playing and shouting – it just reacts.
And that's exactly why the same tricks work: less light, a warm shower, three minutes of breathing. One episode of your favourite series, then check in. Acceptance instead of force.
Smart, or smart about it
Anna has a closing line that's long since become a catchphrase among her athletes. It works for anyone getting up in the morning after a short night.
'We want them to do the smart thing. But if they forget the smart thing, they need to be smart about it.'
A bad night won't destroy you. What saves the next day isn't the hour you spent not sleeping – it's the first 30 minutes after you get up. Light, water, movement. In that order.
More on this – how a bad night becomes a good morning – in the full interview with Anna West.
