Three Tips for Better Sleep - Newsletter Mini Article

[Joe Black]

by Michael Scialabba

Every now and then we need to remember, there's a reason the night falls. As much as we like to think it's for long nights of Halo, internet porn and heavy drinking, it's actually for sleeping, which is really good for you.

In fact, it's so good for you, much research suggests:

• sleep is the most anabolic time period your body will ever undergo
• sleep elevated growth hormone and repairs tissues
• sleep decreases stress and improves memory
• sleep increases the immune system and endocrine function
• sleep decreases body fat levels by restoring critical hormonal functions
• sleep regulates a healthy sex drive
• sleep offers an opportunity to do things you couldn't actually do, like fly- ok, those are dreams, and we live for those right?

What's that? Can't sleep you say?

Try these 3 tips for better sleep, and in turn, better guns and harder abs!

1) Lose the booze before bed.

Alcohol may help you fall asleep quicker, but for some is a guaranteed midnight alarm clock. If you're noticing a consistent awakening a few hours before you should, and you're having a few before bed time, try cutting out the beverages for a few days and see if you start sleeping solid through the night.

2) Turn out that damn light!

We live in a ridiculous world of lights, gadgets, cell phones, ipods, laptops, flat screens etc. Get your room as dark as possible, and if you hear something electrical running that's not your body, shut it off! Consider even turning your alarm clock face down and forgetting about it. It goes off religiously right? Then relax, it'll still go off like it should when it's time to wake up.

3) Try reducing stimulants a few hours before bed.

This includes all stimulants. Caffeine, weight lifting, the movie “Heat”, the movie “Busty Barbell Beauties”, angry phone calls, stressful homework (not an excuse not to do it, just do it earlier in the day like good boys and girls), etc. etc. Try to lend your mind relax. Read something enjoyable, meditate, write, listen to chill music, whatever. Just try to relax and not get excited.

Do what you need to do, but know that better sleep means better gains in the gym, and a longer life. Enjoy!

This exclusive article (and others) can be found in the latest Wannabebig Serious About Muscle Newsletter - April 7th, 2010

You can sign up here - Wannabebig Newsletter Sign Up

[JRider23]

I also heard that doing stuff on your bed like work can effect sleeping patterns and make it harder to fall asleep.

[Joe Black]

I have found the worst thing to do for sleep is to work right up until the last minute. My brain is still buzzing from the stuff I was on and I feel it hard to relax. So I always try and have a good 30 mins of relaxing before I hit the sack now.

I used to work from my bedroom ages ago and just having my desktop in my room and knowing I worked in it every day made it feel more of an office than a bedroom. Now my bedroom is a place to relax - no tv either!!!

[Mercuryblade]

I find weightlifting at the end of the day one of the best ways to help myself fall asleep ever. The calming buzz I get after an intense session actually helps me fall asleep. Obviously everyone is different though.

[StLRPh]

I find weightlifting at the end of the day one of the best ways to help myself fall asleep ever. The calming buzz I get after an intense session actually helps me fall asleep. Obviously everyone is different though.

I'm the complete opposite. Keeps me awake for hours

[cant hit bombz]

Does anyone know if there has been a study done on sleep apnea and it's effects on HGH production?

[skinny99]

I'm the complete opposite. Keeps me awake for hours

Yeah me too! It has been an issue for me as I am have to lift later now.

[KItL]

All good advice, but in addition to the advice given above, you can take a much more active role in this natural process if you want.

Learning how to relax is an essential techniques; and this is where stretching exercises will have their role for particular individuals, too (there is a direct correlation between brain state and muscle tension that works both ways: if mental activity slows, the body relaxes, and vice versa). Once you have learned how, you can recreate this sensation/state at any time, and much more easily each time you are successful in doing this. This is simply a new skill, for most people.

Meditation and self-hypnosis, once learned, are also extremely effective in helping you to develop a routine that speeds the fall-into-deep-sleep process, and helps to both keep you asleep and to make that sleep genuinely restful—who hasn't had eight hours sleep yet woken up feeling exhausted? This will be the case if either muscle tension levels remain high during the night or mental activities remain high.

There are CDs you can download to your iPod and use before sleep that are structured muscle relaxation, breathing, or visualisation exercises (some have two of these aspects, and a few have three). All can be effective.

http://kitlaughlin.com

[Joe Black]

I forgot about this but my brother has a free, short relaxation MP3 he gives away. You can download it here - http://www.empoweringsounds.com/free...relaxation.zip

[Shemz]

Hey,

I got a question, well more of a problem i suppose. Sometimes i can sleep good for days, weeks, months then i'm talking 9 hours or more sometimes, but there are also times where i wake up after 7 hours of sleep or less and most of the time i wake up with a headache..

No the headache is not from drinking, because i don't..i suppose it comes from lacking hours of sleep? My room is as dark as it gets, i don't do anything your not supposed to do according to your list, i listen to some relaxing music whie i'm falling asleep, the music timer is always set so it goes off by itself, but by then i'm almost always vast asleep..

I go to school, right now i'm on vacation, i've been sleeping well for a few days, but the last two days i keep waking up way too early again, i can feel that my muscle soreness goes away less fast than it does with a good night sleep..now i have been going to bed rather late the past few days and i do drink a shake before i go to sleep, proteins you know but it's not like i wake up because i have to pee or anything..

So i was wondering, do i drink my shakes earlier, watch less tv in the evening and just go straight to bed on a decent hour or..I'm kinda running out of ideas..and i don't mind waking up early but it's affecting my muscle recovery, i had to postpone my workout yesterday till today cuz i just felt my muscles wouldn't be able to handle the workout..that's what annoys me the most..

[everphilski]

I got a question, well more of a problem i suppose. Sometimes i can sleep good for days, weeks, months then i'm talking 9 hours or more sometimes, but there are also times where i wake up after 7 hours of sleep or less and most of the time i wake up with a headache.

Could be sleep apnea, which will also lower the quality of your sleep. Morning headaches are a classic indicator. Do you sleep within earshot of anyone that can comment on your snoring patterns?

Dehydration would also explain it, and is easier to test/fix ... try that first.

philip

[Joe Black]

Sleep is a funny one in that it can be a bit random at times.

I think all you can really do is try and follow some of the tips in this thread and you'll have the best chance for a long, deep sleep.

If you wake up early and cannot get back to sleep, have you ever thought about grabbing 1-2 hours during the day?

[Shemz]

Sleep is a funny one in that it can be a bit random at times.

I think all you can really do is try and follow some of the tips in this thread and you'll have the best chance for a long, deep sleep.

If you wake up early and cannot get back to sleep, have you ever thought about grabbing 1-2 hours during the day?

Sometimes i take a "power-nap", but most of the time i'm too active to fall asleep in the middle of the day..

[jtteg_x]

good article. I'd like to add that me personally, get some good sleeping with a snack before bed. whether its a protein shake or food helps me satisfies my stomach and puts me in food coma.

[Runty]

Waking up with a headache after 7 hours of sleep sounds like you might be dehydrating while you're sleeping. Try drinking more water before you go to sleep and some right when you wake up.

For me personally, taking naps during the day screws my sleep up even worse. If I nap then it takes me forever to fall asleep at night. If I get bad sleep one night I just try to push myself through the day and stay active so I don't pass out. Then just get some solid sleep the following night.

[snikez]

you should add "take some melatonin" to your list. It's basically a sleeping pill without any addictive properties, I take it an hour before bed and never have any problems going to sleep.

[everphilski]

Question - does anyone know how sleeping pills (in my case, trazodone) affects production of HGH and muscle repair during sleep? I know I get a lower quality sleep, but at least I'm getting sleep. Due to various issues I don't sleep well, if at all, without a little help from the trazodone.