Muscle
Growth, Fat Loss, and Sleep
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Bodybuilders
focus so much of their time on nutrition and
training only to neglect a factor that is
at least of equal importance—sleep. But why
is sleep so critical for optimum muscle gain
and fat loss? Here's why…
- During
sleep high quantities of growth hormone
(GH) are pumped out into your blood stream.
GH is vital for tissue repair, not the
least, muscle tissue. When you've been
training hard and breaking down muscle,
so that your body will overcompensate
and build even more musle, then having
high levels of GH is vital. GH also helps
preferential utilization of fat for energy.
- Cortisol
is a catabolic hormone that stimulates
the breakdown of protein in the muscles
into glucose and glycogen. Not good. High
levels of cortisol are also associated
with abdominal fat gain. Sleep decreases
the levels of the hormone cortisol.
- Lack of
sleep can lead to a decrease in insulin
sensitivity. When you become more insulin
resistant it means less glucose gets transported
to muscle cells, which in turn means less
protein synthesis sparking off less muscle
growth. Poor insulin sensitivity also
causes the body to more readily store
energy as fat. Sleep has such profound
effect on insulin that studies have shown
that men of 30 years old with poor sleep
habits have insulin response levels comparable
to 60-year-olds.
- Studies
have also shown that lack of sleep results
in decreased levels of the hormone, leptin.
This hormone has a hand in many metabolic
processes not least in keeping you lean.
- When you
fall asleep there is a decrease in your
body's metabolism with signals to send
higher levels of blood to your muscles,
which encourages muscle growth.
- Levels
of muscle building, fat burning hormone,
and testosterone are also heavily influenced
by sleep. There's a direct relationship
between length of sleep and levels of
testosterone.
- Sleep is
the primary time when central nervous
system (CNS) recovers from any stresses
or strains. This is especially important
when training heavily for muscle growth—if
you fatigue your CNS you will struggle
to gain any new muscle, not to mention
you'll have low energy, poor mood and
be more susceptible to injury and illness.
Quite
simply, if you're not getting adequate quality
sleep, you'll be short changing yourself in
any goals to build muscle and get lean.
So
How Much Sleep Do I Need?
Research
suggests that 7.5 hours of sleep is "optimal,"
but in truth an exact optimal amount of sleep
is problematic to define—many of these studies
don't factor in diet, exercise, health condition,
and so on. It will vary from person to person.
And then you have to consider a bodybuilder
is not representative of a "normal"
person, their needs are different.
A
good rule of thumb is sleep enough so that
you have good levels of energy and mood through
out the day. If you feel strong urges to sleep
during the day, you aren't getting enough
sleep. Conversely you don't want to sleep
so much that you have trouble drifting off
at night. In short, sleep enough so you don't
feel sluggish in the daytime, but not so much
that you have problems getting to sleep in
the night. If you stick by those guidelines
you won't go far wrong. If you are training
hard I'd recommend the absolute bare minimum
of 7.5 hours; if you sleep less than this
your nervous system will not have a chance
to fully recoup.
For
me personally, when training hard, any less
than 9 hours and my training progress would
slow. I'd also feel very sluggish with poor
concentration during the day.
But
Don't Forget about Quality of Sleep
There's
no point packing in hours of sleep if that
quality of that sleep is poor. During sleep,
you cycle through five distinct phases—stages
1, 2, 3 and 4 and a stage of rapid eye movement
(REM) sleep.
Of
particular importance to bodybuilders are
the stages of deep sleep, primarily stage
4. It's during deep sleep that GH peaks and
muscle repair and growth swings into full
action. During this time other hormones, such
as testosterone, also rapidly rise. So how
do you increase the quality of your sleep
and get more stage 4 sleep?
Exercise
One
of the best ways to generate more of this
deep sleep is via physical exercise. Exercise
and physical activity cause deeper sleep by
stimulating a greater increase in body temperature
during the day. This in turn causes a bigger
drop in temperature at night, resulting in
deeper sleep.
Increase
Melatonin
Another
powerful way of getting deeper sleep is by
increasing your body's melatonin levels. Melatonin
is known as the "sleep hormone"
since it is produced when people sleep, or
more precisely, when they are exposed to darkness.
It's the production of this hormone that sends
us to sleep, which is why we sleep at night—when
it's dark. As soon as light hit your eyes
(even through your eyelids) or via skin, melatonin
production stops and we begin to wake, which
is why we get up at dawn.
However,
modern day has taken its toll on our melatonin
levels. Nighttime exposure to low-level light,
through electric lighting, TVs, computer monitors
and the like, all hamper melatonin levels.
Staying up late and exposing yourself to this
extra light causes levels of insulin and cortisol
levels to rise. When you wake up, insulin
and cortisol should be high in order to deal
with waking up, but instead they are suppressed.
This usually manifests itself in a lack of
appetite and ability to get up in the morning.
The
simplest way to increase melatonin output
at night is by exposing yourself to intense
light during the day. Exposure to bright light
causes body temperature to rise and suppresses
melatonin production during the day, which
makes you feel more awake. It also causes
your body temperature to drop more efficiently
at night and increases melatonin levels meaning
easier, deeper, more regenerative sleep. The
exact opposite also holds true… a lack of
exposure to light during the day prevents
melatonin from being suppressed causing you
to feel tired and lethargic. In turn, when
night falls your body temperature won't drop
as much, making it harder to drift off.
A
sunny day can emit from 50,000 to 100,000
lux of brightness in light—1 lux is a little
less than the amount of light one candle gives
off. A dark winter day may emit 1,000 lux.
But the average house or work place emits
a meager 200 to 500 lux. Studies have shown
that it is not uncommon for us to be exposed
to as little as 1,000 lux a day. We are becoming
light starved. Even the few thousand lux emitted
in winter is not enough for some people as
recent studies about Seasonal Affective Disorder
(SAD, sometimes referred to as Winter Syndrome)
reveal.
The
simple solution to this problem is to increase
exposure to bright light, with the cheapest
way to do this by getting outdoors more. If
you can see even a hint of blue sky then the
light level is probably about 10,000 lux.
Just 30 minutes exposure to this level of
light will dramatically improve levels of
deep sleep. Full summer sunlight is 100,000
lux, but on dark winter days light can measure
anywhere around 5,000 lux which requires one
hour of exposure or more. Here is a rough
guideline of how much light and exposure time
you need to improve sleep quality:
- Summer
sun (clear sky), 100,000 lux, 20 minutes
exposure time required
- Sun (few
patches of blue sky) 10,000 lux, 30 minutes
exposure time required
- Winter
light (cloudy) 5,000 lux, 60 minutes exposure
time required
Turn
on the Light Box
But
what can you do if none of these solutions
are practical day to day? The answer is something
called a light box, which quite simply is
a box that you plug into the mains which then
emits full spectrum light of enough quantity
to act as a suitable substitute for daylight.
Light boxes can easily be used at home or
in your office, allowing you to carry on your
normal activities: have your breakfast, do
some reading, writing, watching television,
or working on the computer.
Then
Go Dark
Once
you've maximized daytime intake of light you
can go one stage further and minimize night
time exposure to light. Exposure to light
at night minimizes melatonin production. Even
just watching TV is enough light to suppress
melatonin. One study revealed: "The results
indicate that minimal light contamination
of only 0.2 lux during an otherwise normal
dark phase inhibits host melatonin secretion."
Remember that one candle is 1 lux, so light
one-fifth of the power of that is enough to
cause this disruption to your sleep hormones.
With that in mind…
Avoid
watching TV or sitting at your computer late
into the night. Lower the intensity of lights
which are turned on in the evening by switching
off unnecessary lights and getting lower-watt
light bulbs. Make sure your bedroom is pitch
black. Get blackout blinds to stop light from
leaking through too early in the morning while
you are still sleeping.
6
More Sleep Tips
And
finally, here are a few more tips to improve
the quality of your sleep…
- Be wary
about using prescription sleeping pills,
it can be to easy to become dependent
on them and long term use is associated
with a number of side effects which will
ultimately hamper muscle growth and fat
loss. Instead try to maximize your body's
own ability for deep sleep as outlined
in this article. Also be alert to the
fact that other prescription meds' can
cause problems... It's not uncommon for
doctors to prescribe anti-depressant for
sleeplessness, for example, there a high
numbers of reported Zoloft
insomnia problems.
- Keep your
room cooler; the cooler the better, without
becoming too cold and shivering. The coolness
will help your body temperature drop which
will help induce sleep. If your room is
too warm it will be more difficult for
your body temperature to drop.
- It should
come as no surprise that stimulants make
it more difficult to fall asleep, so reducing—or
even better, eliminating—nicotine and
caffeine will help.
- Get a good
quality mattress. If you haven't replaced
your mattress in years then now could
be the ideal time. A quality mattress
can make all the difference. Ideally get
one with support in the middle (often
comes as two single mattresses zipped
together). This prevents sagging in the
middle and provides much better support.
- Be sure
to avoid alcohol where possible, although
it may help you drift off to sleep more
easily it suppresses melatonin, which
results in less time spent in deep sleep.
- Instead
of prescription meds' consider a natural
sleep aid like homeopathic remedies.
Homeopathy is a popular holistic modality
that is relatively affordable and doesn't
create harmful side effects.
Good
Night!
So
there you have it. If your training and nutrition
is dialed in then by increasing the quality
of your sleep and sleeping the amount of time
your body needs you'll prime your body for
muscle growth and fat loss.
By
Chris Bhurrut, author and freelance writer
for HealthyNewAge.com, the alternative
healthcare web site and blog.
