Anna West: Waking football to the power of sleep

Our guest on Episode #80 of the TGG Podcast is the world-renowned sleep expert Anna West. She works with teams competing in the Premier League, Champions League and the World Cup. Her methods have helped change the way that football thinks about sleep and recovery.  In this Episode, Anna told me how she came to work in football, about the work she does with clubs and players, and also debunked some of the common myths about sleep.   SHOW NOTES => 0:00: Introduction 1:36: How did you first get involved in your line of work? Entry into elite sport and football  06:07: How important is sleep for athletes?  08:40: Sleep quality, not just quantity 10:45: Monitoring and sleep anxiety 12:44: The challenge of night-time kick-offs 14:06: The magic eight hours? 17:33: How do you work with a club? 26:02: Good sleep starts in the morning  27:01: Debunking sleep myths: Mouth taping 34:03: Working individually with players. Emi Marcondes case study  37:57: Universal truths: eating & sleeping before you go to bed, room temperature, napping, caffeine. 49:23: Mechanics of a night’s sleep 52:51: Looking at your phone/ social media before bed 55:38: Effects of alcohol  57:58: Advice on caffeine 59:56: Working at the World Cup  1:02:08: Sleeping tablets 1:07:14: Ambitions for the future