Build
Muscle and Burn Fat--Sleeping!
by Brian Cunningham, MS
That title is not in error, it is possible to use sleep to
your advantage in building a great body. Besides being
healthy for a variety of reasons, sleep offers us an
opportunity to enhance recovery, stimulate anabolic hormones
such as growth hormone (GH), and to increase fat loss.
Why Sleep?
First off, why do we need sleep? Current ideas focus on
sleep being essential for neurons and the associated
chemistry (neuronal biochemistry such as neurotransmitters)
to regenerate. Most of this activity is going on in the
brain. So we need sleep because our brains need to
regenerate. Memory, learning and social processes are cycled
and rejuvenated during sleep. Sleep enables the brain to
encode new information and store it properly. REM sleep
activates the parts of the brain that control learning.
In addition, the nervous system and immune system are being
viewed as one system, so sleep is also essential for optimal
immune function. In case you didn’t realize this –
everything about you, from your ‘self’ and personality, to
mood swings, hormone levels, sexual desire, intelligence,
etc are all centered around your brain. You literally are
your brain. So saying that its vital to take care of this
organ is an understatement.
As a side note, in grad school at New York Medical College,
I did my thesis on brain function and nutrition, and I can
assure you, brain chemistry, and how it affects all aspects
of ‘you’ are sensitive to changes in nutrient intake, and to
items like sleep.
As a Health & Fitness Trainer for www.MyHealthExperts.com
(and Equinox ) I consult with many bodybuilders and
athletes, and a common statement is “I work hard and I play
hard.” Yet when it comes to health, they often have a
lackluster response such as, “everything in moderation.”
Where is their logic? Living today requires that we
compensate hard as well. Compensate for all the stress
working and playing hard produce. And the only way to
compensate is to focus on being healthy. Being healthy is
the core of everything, the foundation upon which everything
you value is built upon. And part of being healthy is
getting adequate sleep. This usually is between 7-8 hours
for most people.
Contrary to popular belief, you cannot catch up on sleep by
sleeping extra on the weekends. You may be so fatigued that
you need more sleep, but you are not making up for the lost
sleep on other days. Studies also show that those going on
4-5 hrs of sleep a night can have as much cognitive
impairment as someone who was awake for 3 days straight!
What’s more interesting is that these people often do not
even realize their loss of mental function. We all know how
bad it feels to have residual fatigue from not sleeping
enough the night before – it affects everything from your
workouts, to your mood.
Hormonal Hazards:
Good sleep enhances the release of growth hormone, a
critical hormone for a number of physiologic processes,
including building muscle and burning fat. Eating before bed
may inhibit growth hormone release, so if you need to eat,
be sure to have no carbs at the very least. Drinking a
protein flax oil shake may be the best as it is easily
assimilated. Even better might be to take 20 grams of BCAA’s
along with 5 grams of taurine. This will help mitigate
nighttime catabolism and still not effect GH release. Plus
taurine is great as a mild sleep aid.
Eating before bed also inhibits Phase II detoxification in
the liver. Phase I liver detoxification includes filtering
and the Cytochrome P450 enzymes. Phase II involves
conjugation. Conjugation is where various enzymes in the
liver attach protective compounds to toxins. This either
neutralizes the toxin or makes the toxin more easily
excreted. Phase I and II work together so that both need to
be working properly. Proper liver detoxification is
especially critical for the prevention of cancers.
This is even more dangerous to bodybuilders as steroids and
high-protein diets activate Phase I detox, and eating before
bed inhibits Phase II thus leaving dangerous carcinogens
(cancer causing agents) lingering in the body longer.
Therefore consider cycling periods of eating before bed with
periods of not allowing maximal liver activity.
Good sleep elevates Leptin and suppresses Ghrelin, two key
hormones affecting appetite and hunger. Leptin is a hormone
produced by fat cells that tells the brain energy levels are
high, so appetite is suppressed. Ghrelin is a hormone made
in the stomach that stimulates hunger and appetite. Eating a
meal suppresses ghrelin and increases leptin, thereby
suppressing hunger. Recent evidence suggests that losing
sleep causes subjects to become more hungry and eat more by
elevating ghrelin and decreasing leptin. Not the ideal
situation for losing weight.
Other hormones are also affected by sleep. One hormone that
is elevated when we don’t sleep well is cortisol. This
catabolic hormone is a bodybuilders nemesis, so missing
sleep may catabolize (cause a net loss of) prescious muscle
tissue. Making matters worse, TSH (thyroid stimulating
hormone) is a hormone released by the pituitary to control
thyroid output and metabolism, is reduced during sleep
deprivation.
Many men snore and think it’s normal. It may be an
indication of low testosterone levels. Sleep apnea is a
respiratory disorder that affects 4%-9% of adult males. Its
most common manifestation is loud snoring and it may occur
several hundred times throughout the night, resulting in
sleep fragmentation and excessive daytime sleepiness. A
recent study found that nearly half the subjects who
suffered from severe sleep apnea also secreted abnormally
low levels of testosterone throughout the night.
Do you need more Sleep?
Consider the following questions:
• Do you sleep extra hours on the weekend?
• Do you need an alarm clock to wake up on time?
• Do your eyelids feel heavy during afternoon classes or
meetings?
• Do you use caffeine as to stay awake or alert?
If you answer
yes to any of the above, you’re probably not getting
adequate amounts of sleep. Try to focus on getting 7-8 hours
a night for 2 months and see if you notice any improvements.
Our bodies have a natural sleep cycle that is optimal when
sleeping from 10 pm to about 6 am. Try to get to bed at
least prior to midnight. Be sure to sleep in a dark
environment with no noise. Any light hitting the retina will
inhibit stimulation of the pineal gland and as such a
critical hormone called melatonin is inhibited. Melatonin is
important for many functions, for example, it turns on the
gene known as p53 that stops cancer cells from growing.
If you have problems sleeping, consider Eden PM first. This
is because recent evidence suggests an herbal ingredient
known as THP is also clinically effective in treating
insomnia. It’s so potent is was recently patented. Only Eden
has THP.
Sleep, along with diet, exercise and nutritional
supplementation, is a cornerstone of optimal health. Don’t
neglect it!
