So I am 21 years old and have been heavy lifting for many years. I have always had sleep problems on the days that I lift. I only lift around 3 days a week (45 minutes a workout) but go balls to the wall every time. I now consistently cannot sleep every time I lift. I will go from feeling fatigued then the second I lay down to sleep, instantly I am wired again. I don’t see this as over training because I don’t lift too often, but it is pretty consistent.
WTF is my deal.
The most I have taken off is a week at a time for the last several years. When I am in an offweek, I oversleep 12 hours a night but when I am lifting I lay in bed for hours feeling wired. Any suggestions would be great. I like to stay away from sleep aids. Thanks
[quote]kgundersen wrote:
So I am 21 years old and have been heavy lifting for many years. I have always had sleep problems on the days that I lift. I only lift around 3 days a week (45 minutes a workout) but go balls to the wall every time. I now consistently cannot sleep every time I lift. I will go from feeling fatigued then the second I lay down to sleep, instantly I am wired again. I don’t see this as over training because I don’t lift too often, but it is pretty consistent.
This lack of sleep makes me anxious the next day when going to bed, nervous I won’t sleep that night again. When I take a week off, I sleep great so I know it directly related to lifting. I love lifting and enjoy going intense in the gym but I feel the lack of sleep is getting unhealthy. Any suggestions? Am I possibly in a CNS overtrainined state and never have recovered.
The most I have taken off is a week at a time for the last several years. When I am in an offweek, I oversleep 12 hours a night but when I am lifting I lay in bed for hours feeling weird and wired. Any suggestions would be great. I like to stay away from sleep aids. Thanks[/quote]
Maybe some stretching and light cardio after the workout? I find that helps me.
[quote]bushidobadboy wrote:
Cortisol elevation due to intense training. Take some phosphatidylserine and/or bacopa monnieri.
BBB[/quote]
Or time the lifting sessions in the early morning along with possibly seeing a doctor for sleep aids. I will say this though…it sounds like the op’s life is very relaxed with very little activity overall UNLESS he is in the gym and that alone might be the problem.
If he is only training 3 days a week and the rest of his life involves little physical activity, working out more regularly may even help him in the long run.
[quote]bushidobadboy wrote:
Cortisol elevation due to intense training. Take some phosphatidylserine and/or bacopa monnieri.
BBB[/quote]
Or time the lifting sessions in the early morning along with possibly seeing a doctor for sleep aids. I will say this though…it sounds like the op’s life is very relaxed with very little activity overall UNLESS he is in the gym and that alone might be the problem.
If he is only training 3 days a week and the rest of his life involves little physical activity, working out more regularly may even help him in the long run.
[/quote]
hijack
nice new avitar prof. thats a big arm.
to op, are you taking stims before your workout? be honest. downin the superpump, arent ya?
I have the same problem. To fix it, I started taking Mg+Zn. Nothing fancy, just the stuff I can find at walmart and I take one or two of those depending on how wired I am.
I have the same problem. To fix it, I started taking Mg+Zn. Nothing fancy, just the stuff I can find at walmart and I take one or two of those depending on how wired I am.
You have any other factors that are leading to stress? I have some nasty insomnia too sometimes. I thought it was the heavy lifting, but rather it was more outside factors that were the problem.
How’s your caffeine/stimulant intake too? Too many stimulants over a long period of time will mess you up bad. Keep in mind caffeine takes about 12 hours to completely rid the system.
[quote]bushidobadboy wrote:
Cortisol elevation due to intense training. Take some phosphatidylserine and/or bacopa monnieri.
BBB[/quote]
Or time the lifting sessions in the early morning along with possibly seeing a doctor for sleep aids. I will say this though…it sounds like the op’s life is very relaxed with very little activity overall UNLESS he is in the gym and that alone might be the problem.
If he is only training 3 days a week and the rest of his life involves little physical activity, working out more regularly may even help him in the long run.
[/quote]
hijack
nice new avitar prof. thats a big arm.
to op, are you taking stims before your workout? be honest. downin the superpump, arent ya?[/quote]
Thank you.
As far as the OP, I would also like to know overall workload throughout the day (as far as how active you are when NOT training) as well as how much caffeine is taken in everyday.
Ok Prof, I’m gonna have to ask you to calm it down a bit. You’re making most of us look bad.
On a serious note, Good God, man! Nice work!
I second actionboy’s opinion. I have trouble sleeping too, and I’m certain the preworkout stims are a major contributor. Knock it off or don’t complain, OP.
I experience this also. I’ve moved my workouts to earlier in the evening. It seems to be a bigger issue on squat days for me. I also get that thing where I drift off and am jolted awake right away.
I know this is super nerdy but sometimes, espeacially when I am making really good progress in the gym, when I go to bed I start thinking about the session or even the next days session and I mentally rehears the exersises. This can sometimes get me really fired up to lift and then I can hardly sit still let alone sleep.
So I guess my question is if you are thinking a lot about your training thats getting you wired before bed?
[quote]Doyle wrote:
I know this is super nerdy but sometimes, espeacially when I am making really good progress in the gym, when I go to bed I start thinking about the session or even the next days session and I mentally rehears the exersises. This can sometimes get me really fired up to lift and then I can hardly sit still let alone sleep.
So I guess my question is if you are thinking a lot about your training thats getting you wired before bed?
[/quote]
lol…I’m glad Im not the only one…although this only happens to me anymore when I know I’m starting a new cycle the next day.
Many athletes suffer from sleep problems. One thing I observed is that if I train at a very high intensity by means of to-failure-effort over e too long time period, I cannot fall asleep.
If I work out with a very high volume foe too long, I can fall asleep, but wake up often throughout the night.
Since you are training balls-to-the-wall I would suggest to train with a higher volume for some weeks, but don’t take your sets anywhere near failure.
Additionally, I would take a high dose of PPS every day to fight cortisone levels.
Yeah, whenever I do high volume, low rest with lighter weight (but still a difficult workout), I sleep like a baby and my appetite is stimulated big time. It’ll be harder for me to sleep when I use heavy weights and long rest periods for most of my workout.