Top athletes meticulously shape their pre-game routines. They want to be ready physically, mentally, and emotionally to perform their best when the competition kicks off. Unfortunately, few are as intentional about what they do after the game. How well athletes wind down will ultimately impact the quality of their training or performance tomorrow.

Winding Down is a Struggle at Every Level

Brandon Parsons, clinical deputy director at Neurodezign was part of a team who supported the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks. In one of his initial conversations with one of the team’s leaders in the locker room he heard a familiar gripe, “I don’t feel rested the next day. I don’t feel like I sleep well.”

In Parsons’ experience, “Athletes in general absolutely suck at being able to shut off after a game. They go home, it’s eleven thirty, midnight, and their brains’ still wired, still going a hundred miles per hour. And they gotta calm down and relax.”

Unfortunately, athletes try to combat this with seemingly mindless activities like watching Netflix or playing Xbox. While not physically taxing these activities keep the brain activated and the blue light inhibits melatonin production in the brain, which we need to fall asleep. Worse yet, older athletes may have a couple of drinks which only interferes with sleep. Consequently, they struggle to wind down and the quality of their sleep suffers.

• Risk of injury
• Physical Strength
• Reaction Time
• Information Processing
• Concentration
• Decision Making
• Emotion Regulation
• Athletic Performance

If you want more details, check out this post.

3 Step Routine to Help Athletes Wind Down to Increase Recovery

Athletes can set the conditions to facilitate winding down and falling asleep. They can adjust the lights, put down the electronics, and turn down the thermostat. However, what they do post-game may be just as, if not more, important.

Here is an easy-to-implement routine that every athlete can use to help them wind down after competitions to reduce insomnia and facilitate recovery:

1. Find a quiet place.

This will look different for everyone. Some athletes can put on their headphones, cue up some calming music, and tune out the rest of the locker room. Others need to leave the locker room and find a more secluded place where they aren’t distracted. This might be a conference room in the field house or in their cars before driving home. The point is to find a distraction-free space where he or she can relax and slow down.

2. Do 5 minutes of mindful breathing.

In that quiet place, invest 5 minutes in a mindful breathing exercise (also known as diaphragmatic breathing). This 3-part process has tremendous benefits for an athlete’s performance but also aids in the recovery of mind and body. It also can assist athletes in getting better sleep.

1. Belly Breathing: take slow deep breaths inflating the belly as you inhale and tightening the belly as you exhale.
2. Focus on One Thing: simplify your thinking by focusing on a calming word, phrase, or mental video.
3. Elicit Positive Emotions: Use the thoughts or images in part 2 to experience a positive emotion which counteracts the body’s stress response.

3. Keep it mellow.

It is hard for athletes to wind down when they continue to replay clips from the competition in their minds, over and over. At this point in the post-game process, further critiques only activate the body’s stress response. No more shoulda, woulda, coulda.

Athletes need to unwind, focus on enjoying family or friends, and relax their minds and bodies. This will help them ease into bed and maximize their quality of sleep and recovery.

Athletes should be as intentional about winding down after a game as they are about psyching up.

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Bonus Download

To help your athletes wind down using diaphragmatic breathing, I created this free downloadable poster to coach them along.

Encourage Athletes to Wind Down with Purpose

When athletes become intentional about winding down, they can accelerate their performance. Winding down increases the quality of athletes’ recovery. It will help them sleep better. Ultimately, it will help them train harder, play smarter, and perform better when it counts.

Question: What prevents your athletes from winding down?

I’d love to hear from you in the comments below, or on Facebook or Twitter.