Help me sleep after exercise

[loveyoutothemoonandtosaturn]

Once a week I play soccer with a group of friends. It's 5 aside at the local football club and we really love it. It's great fun and I have made so many friends from this. The only downside is that due to pitch availability we can only train at 9pm to 10pm. This leaves me completely wired when I get home and unable to sleep. I would say I average about 3-4 hours that night and it ruins me for the next day. My Garmin watch told me the last day that my body battery was 35.. on waking up it should be close to 100. Anyone any hints or tips on how to sleep after exercising so late? It's really getting me down but so reluctant to stop playing..

What time do you normally go to bed? I find consistency of time each night really helps.

Have you tried any breathing exercises before bed to relax? The free breathe app is great. I sleep much better when I either do 5 min box breathing or 5 min 4-7-8 breathing before sleep.

I usually don't go until 11.30 or so after football as I try to relax first but it doesn't matter if I go straight to to bed or stay up until after midnight the sleep just doesn't happen 😩

Watching with interest as i have the same problem if I exercise much later than 9pm

In that case I would really try the breathing exercises as they will really help to bring your stress levels down.

Honestly I gave up on training late as I couldn't really make it work for similar reasons. I know others can make it work through routines, breathing etc but I couldn't.

The only thing I could do to mute the impact a bit was to WFH the day before and almost plan a much of a quiet/recovery day as I could.

similar here. if i exercise after a certain time getting to rest takes time.

what helps me:
small meal after only.
large glass of water & magnesium
warm shower/bath straight before bed

and don't listen to your watch. your body wil tell you to slow down if needed.

and also: even resting in bed is beneficial.
lie down, wrap up warm, listen to radio... sleep or no sleep the rest will do you good.

No way I’d be able to sleep after that too 😔

I have the same problem with a different sport. WFH sometimes following day, more coffee. Wish I had a solution!

I’m the same.
weighted blanket, valerian tea and sleep mask help.
try listening to an audio book on quietly cocooned in blankets and mask till you drift off. It won’t restore you the same as sleep but active resting is better than not.

I can’t exercise post 8.30 pm or I’ll never sleep.

Have you tried otc sleep gummies to help knock you off? And magnesium.

Thank you everyone for the replies, will try a weighted blanket and someone has said magnesium too.. will look at the sleep gummies! The only good side is I sleep like a baby the next night.