Common Sleep Myths by Jerry Brainum 1/22

This is the second article about sleep in this special issue of Applied Metabolics devoted to the importance of sleep. I opted to devote an entire issue to sleep because I believe that it's the most overlooked aspect of fitness, health, and muscular development. In the course of writing for various bodybuilding and fitness magazines over the course of 40 years and interviewing countless bodybuilders and athletes, not one of them ever mentioned their sleep habits. They would discuss in detail their training techniques and dietary practices to both lose body fat and gain muscle, but never did they discuss their sleep habits. This is curious because sleep is the cornerstone of recuperation for both mind and body. Not getting sufficient sleep can easily blunt progress in the quest to develop greater muscular strength and size, as well as significantly inhibit fat-loss efforts. Concerning the latter, sleep changes the balance of proteins such as ghrelin and leptin that make dieting an arduous, uphill battle. Even worse, the appetite-stimulating effects of poor sleep tend to favor a craving for so-called "junk foods," such as highly processed carbohydrates that either maintain or promote body fat accretion.

Many bodybuilders and athletes often find that they have reached a plateau in their training. They appear to be doing everything right, such as training with a high level of intensity, being progressive in their training, and eating enough protein and other nutrients that are required to promote muscular gains. They can't figure out why the progress has reached a standstill. But if you question any of these people, you'll find that they overlook the importance of sleep and rest for complete recuperation between training sessions.  I knew of one fellow who preferred to train in the early morning hours when the gym opened. This involved beginning his workout at 4 a.m. When I asked him why he preferred to train so early, he told me that he liked to train in a less crowded atmosphere, a feeling I can readily agree with. When I asked him what time he went to sleep in order to get to the gym at 4 a.m, he told me that his usual sleep time was 11 p.m. That gave him about 4 hours of sleep a night, assuming that he fell rapidly asleep and stayed asleep the entire time, which many people do not. The problem there was that that little amount of sleep was causing an imbalance between his anabolic hormones and catabolic hormones. Specifically, he likely showed lower than usual testosterone and growth hormone levels, but higher levels of cortisol. Even worse, arising at 3 a.m to get to the gym at 4 meant that his cortisol level was peaking when he got to the gym. That's a great prescription for a chronic lack of . . .