I am a 20yr old, 200lb strength trainer with a fairly high metabolism. I eat a low carb high protien meal before bed around 10:00pm. Then I wake up to my alarm at 2:30am to take a casien protein shake or other lean protien source. Then I go back to bed until 6am.
I do this to try and keep my body out of starvation mode, keep my metabolism and muscle synthesis going. Hopefully avoid some muscle breakdown. I’m not much of a pro does anyone know if this is actually a good idea or should I try to get a solid night’s sleep.
Thanks.
yes and no lol.
Disturbing your nights sleep can hinder things, namely hormone production.
As a steroid user, this is not something i really have to be overly worried about, so when im gaining weight/bulking phase, i will have 12 weeks of waking for a milk and egg protein drink.
It is worth mentioning that milk and egg protein lasts for almost 7 hours in your system, albeit, not at optimum potency for that amount of time.
An idea i once came across was drinking a large glass of plain water right before bed which hopefully should wake you at some point in the night, the waking process should be somewhat slower than an alarm which is the reasoning behind this.
Try upping your carbs in your last meal also, 50g oatmeal with water maybe.
This was suggested in another thread a while back and it makes sense, so I’ll pass it on to you.
Eat your meal if you want, no biggie, Before you go to bed, drink a decent sized glass of water. Then, you’ll eventually wake up and have to go the bathroom. Waking up will be natural, so you should be able to go right back to bed. Have a protein shake made before you go to bed, so that when you get up, you drink it and go back to sleep.
But why are you eating so late? And how close to bedtime are you eating? Also, if you just drink a casein shake before you sleep, you’ll be fine, as it takes a few hours to completely digest.
Edit: The post above me wasn’t there when I replied. Wasn’t parroting his water suggestion.
I eat as late as I can to hold me until I wake up. Maybe some cottage cheese and/or a casien shake and then go to bed. By the time I wake up I usually feel hungry again. Is this a bad idea? Should I not need to eat during the night if I do this.
I use an alarm to wake up, but I’ll try the water thing.
[quote]rockdrummer006 wrote:
I eat as late as I can to hold me until I wake up. Maybe some cottage cheese and/or a casien shake and then go to bed. By the time I wake up I usually feel hungry again. Is this a bad idea? Should I not need to eat during the night if I do this.
I use an alarm to wake up, but I’ll try the water thing.[/quote]
I wouldn’t unnaturally disrupt natural sleep. The glass of water method is ideal because it wakes the body up naturally, thus enabling you to go back to sleep easier with little to no adverse effects. Also, cottage cheese or casein is best. Eating a full meal right before bed really isn’t ideal, whereas something high in protein (and with a greater proteit-to-other-nutrients ratio) is much better. You don’t want too many carbs or fats right before bed; they produce unwanted effects (they increase fat) because the body goes into sleep and therefore has no use for it while being temporarily comatose.
For a while I had protein pills, when Id wake up to use the bathroom at night I would eat about 8-10, its not a lot of protein but it probably helps.