This common problem makes you weaker, slower, and less powerful. Here's how to fix it.
We know that bad sleep lowers testosterone, causes cravings, and is linked to erectile dysfunction. You'd think that would be enough to make people prioritize sleep, hit the sack early, and address any issues that interfere with sleep. Sadly, about one in three American adults isn't even hitting the 7-hour mark.
So, here's one more study showing that sleep is kind of a big deal. This one shows how poor sleep wrecks athletic performance and your workouts.
The study
In this study, summarized by Dr. William Wallace, researchers used athletes and healthy non-athletes to examine three types of bad sleep:
- Total sleep deprivation (staying awake all night)
- Partial sleep deprivation, where participants had to wake up at 3 AM.
- Partial sleep deprivation, where participants had to stay awake until 3 AM.
Participants were tested on skill-based movements, endurance, explosive power, strength, speed, and perceived effort (how hard workouts felt).
As expected, those who pulled an all-nighter performed terribly, but so did the partial sleepers, especially by afternoon. Notably, strength decreased by 3-5% on the heavy lifts. Workouts also felt twice as difficult, even if they completed them. In running tests, they lost 1-2 miles of running capacity. In short, every form of athleticism took a hit, from sprinting and jumping (5-10% decline) to agility and accuracy.
I try to sleep, but I can't!
If you're already taking care of basic sleep hygiene, the likely culprits are stress, anxiety, and/or a mineral deficiency. The common denominator? Magnesium deficiency. Here's what this super common deficiency causes:
- Disrupted Nervous System Regulation: Magnesium calms the central nervous system by acting as a natural relaxant. It regulates neurotransmitters like GABA, which promotes relaxation and sleep. Low magnesium reduces GABA activity, making it harder to fall asleep or stay asleep.
- Increased Stress and Cortisol: Magnesium deficiency elevates stress hormones like cortisol, interfering with the body's ability to wind down. High cortisol at night disrupts the circadian rhythm, delaying sleep onset or causing frequent awakenings.
- Muscle Tension and Restless Legs: Magnesium is essential for muscle relaxation. A deficiency leads to muscle cramps, tension, or restless leg syndrome.
- Impaired Melatonin Production: Magnesium supports the production of melatonin, the hormone that regulates the sleep-wake cycle. Low levels reduce melatonin synthesis.
- Heightened Anxiety and Overstimulation: Magnesium deficiency increases anxiety and nervous system excitability. This can manifest as racing thoughts or a "wired but tired" feeling.
It's tough to get enough magnesium through food alone (unless you're a big fan of pumpkin seeds), so use a supplement to quickly correct a deficiency. The chelated form is best, ideally Albion chelated. Chelated minerals are absorbed in the small intestine through mechanisms normally used for amino acids, bypassing the usual barriers to mineral absorption.
Albion has taken chelation to the next level. Their gold-standard minerals offer superior absorption, efficacy, and gentleness to the digestive system. In truth, these minerals aren't even "digested" – they're instantly absorbed and put to work.
Take 400 mg in the evening. Elitepro Vital Minerals (Buy at Amazon) contains this amount of Albion-chelated magnesium, along with other minerals athletes commonly lack.
