Need Help Sleeping

Off Topic
1

All right everyone i really need some help staying asleep once i get to sleep. I feel like i always wake up tired, and that i never get a good night sleep. I will admit i go to bed kinda late (usually past 12) but i cant seem to sleep more than 7 or 8 hours. Now i know 7-8 hours is a good night sleep, but i always wake up tired, and considering im a highschool student with nothing on my mind (except shotput and the gym for the most part) i have the freedom to sleep more, but my body just wont allow me.

Anyone have any suggestions on how i can get to sleep and stay asleep for real long. I just got new blinds in my room that block out (almost literally) all the light, so i sleep in pretty much complete darkness. I have heard “white noise” (i think thats what its called) can help, so i have my air conditioner running all night.

Are there any “rituals” you guys have before you go to bed at night to help you sleep better?

Thanks for the help.

2

Try some night-time cough medicine.

:slight_smile:

4

ZMA + taurine + sex

5

Do you guys think ZMA is ok for me to take even though im rather young (turned 16 today). Im not sure if ZMA is 100% necessary, but if it helps why not try it?

6

[quote]TomRocco wrote:
Do you guys think ZMA is ok for me to take even though im rather young (turned 16 today). Im not sure if ZMA is 100% necessary, but if it helps why not try it? [/quote]

Yes, it’s just minerals and vitamin B6. Or try the following…

The Yin Stack
By Charles Poliquin

Readers of Eastern philosophy are familiar with the dual concept of �??Yin�?? and �??Yang,�?? two primal, but complementary forces representing the feminine and masculine elements of the universe.

If Yang is fire, Yin is oil. The more oil you�??ve got, the more Yang you can put out.

Strength training is a very �??Yang�?? activity. To balance our commitment to strength, the following stack will build your �??Yin�?? reserve for �??burning�?? in your next �??Yang activity. Among other things, you can use the following stack to help your nervous system to calm down in the evening:

Magnesium glycinate 450 mg - strength athletes who are experiencing elevated catecholamines are often insulin resistant. Insulin resistance retards cellular uptake of magnesium. It is crucial to use highly absorbable chelated forms of magnesium such as glycinate. In regards to catecholamine metabolism, magnesium demonstrably suppresses the release ocatecholamines by the heart, which is an indirect index of sympathetic efferent neuronal activity. Ultimately, magnesium calms the nervous system and makes us less irritable under stress.

Taurine 3,000 mg - Along with GABA, taurine is recognized to be a major inhibitory neurotransmitter, specifically acting as a modulator of GABAnergic function. Increasing your taurine intake increases expression of glutamic acid decarboxylase, the enzyme responsible for GABA synthesis.

Phosphatidyl-choline 1.5 g - This one completes the stack by helping the nervous system to calm down by diminishing sympathetic nervous activity. I learned about the usefulness of this supplement for promoting weight gain from Robert Crayhon. Detoxification of neurotoxins requires that the cell membrane is nourished with balanced essential fatty acids (4:1, plus HUFAs) and supportive phospholipids. Phosphatidylcholine is the most abundant phospholipid of the cell membrane and is hepato-protectant. Consider the fact the liver has 33,000 square meters of membrane area, it is crucial to protect it against toxicity and infection. Furthermore, it detoxifies xeno-estrogens.

Take the aforementioned stack twice in the evening - once at dinner and the other time with your bedtime snack. The quality of your sleep will improve as your sympathetic nervous system activity will calm down. Better yet, you may feel more balance between your Yin and Yang.

7

ZMA usually gives me weird dreams for the first week or so of continuously taking it. After that period I usually sleep much better.(I do not really like dreams, makes me feel more tired.)

8

ZMA is a good idea.
Melatonin is OK to knock you off, but if you also have mood issues it doesn’t help. Kava-kava is better in that regard.

But any chemical help should only be temporary, to sort of guide you until your body and mind “learn” how to sleep properly.

Relax, in general. And in particular before going to bed.

Sleep issues are sometimes related to stress. Is there anything that needs to change in your life in that area?

9

[quote]florin wrote:
ZMA is a good idea.
Melatonin is OK to knock you off, but if you also have mood issues it doesn’t help. Kava-kava is better in that regard.

But any chemical help should only be temporary, to sort of guide you until your body and mind “learn” how to sleep properly.

Relax, in general. And in particular before going to bed.

Sleep issues are sometimes related to stress. Is there anything that needs to change in your life in that area?[/quote]

I can say that my stress levels are not very high as of now considering it is summer vacation. If i wasnt sleeping well during the school year i would fully understand why, but since its summer i think of (almost literally) nothing.

I think about lifting weights, throwing shot put, and maybe meeting some girls. I will admit i am going to bed pretty late, but i feel that if im waking up on my own, than my body is satisfied with whatever amount of sleep it got.

10

Just for fun…try going to sleep earlier for a week or so…you’ve mentioned in every post about going to bed so late…maybe that’s an issue…are you drinking alcohol ? drugs? I know you’re only 16…but…who knows what kids are getting up to these days…

So…go to bed tonight at 10…wake up tomorrow at 6. Repeat for 5 days. Lay off the booze and meth and report back in 7 days.

11

ZMA (like everyone else has said) or, if you really want to sleep for a week, take some sort of Calcium Magnesium mix (I think Solaray has a nighttime formula - the ingredient ratios have to be right). Personally, supps with high magnesium make me too groggy throughout the next day or so, and with kava kava or melatonin I sleep deeply but then wake up wired around 2 am. I’ve had the best luck with a product called Tension RX, which is:

B-6 100 mg
Magnesium 116 mg
4-Amino-3-Phenylbutyric acid 1000 mg
Hops extract 100 mg

Half of that gets me a deep sleep without being groggy in the morning. The bottle says it also ‘aids in mental focus and attention’, so I may just be a freak. Like Florin stated, though, be sure to let your body figure out how to get to sleep on it’s own; since you’re on summer break, your body is pretty free to regulate its own sleeping patterns.

I’ve been getting about 11 hours/day this summer(last term was rather hectic), which I find rather infuriating, but my body seems to need it.
Best,
Lycurgus

12

[quote]sen say wrote:
Just for fun…try going to sleep earlier for a week or so…you’ve mentioned in every post about going to bed so late…maybe that’s an issue…are you drinking alcohol ? drugs? I know you’re only 16…but…who knows what kids are getting up to these days…

So…go to bed tonight at 10…wake up tomorrow at 6. Repeat for 5 days. Lay off the booze and meth and report back in 7 days.[/quote]

No i would never do drugs, and i dont really see a point in having alcohol at 16. Surprisingly im about 1 in 300 teenagers who think the same way as me. I feel as if everyone drinks today, but i dont see myself getting into that.

Ill start going to bed. Ill have to start tomorrow or after this weekend, because i all ready made plans to see a movie tonight.

Another thing i would like to ask since im here is if overtraining/reaching affects sleep. If it does, what are some “signs” of being in an overtrained/reached state? Usually the only time i can tell when im overtrained is after i finish a planned training cycle and get sick. I havent been sick lately, just tired.