Alex The Great
07-31-2009, 11:03 AM
No matter how much you eat, no matter how hard you train you just can't seem to add size. Sound familiar? I know a ton of people like this. You make all of your meals on schedule. You lift 5 days a week and you put in as much effort as you possibly can. You do everything that you are basically suppose to do. This includes eating every 2-4 hours and taking your post workout shake as soon as your out of the gym.
Heres the one thing that could be holding you back. You sleep anywhere from 8-10 hours per night. Those other 14-16 hours that you are awake are spent eating and training. The most crucial time is eat is right after your workout right? NO! Even though eating right after your workout to supply your muscles with the building blocks to grow it is not the most important. The most important is night time nutrition. Does it make sense that you eat every 2-4 hours and always make meals on time but when you sleep you fast for 8-10 hours? Thats like missing 2-3 meals throughtout the day.
The solution? Well before bed have a casein protein shake. I make mine with as much water, ice, calorie free syrups as humanly possible. I make a mega shake everynight before bed. My shake is usually about 44 ounces and I also consume and additional 48-64 ounces of water before I go to bed. I know what your thinking...thats a shit load of liquids before bed. But it serves a purpose. After going to sleep i have to wake up and piss like a racehorse about 3 hours later. So I wake up and go to the bathroom then go downstairs to the fridge and have either another casein protein shake or cottage cheese (which is a slow digesting casein protein). I also take in 1 scoop of peanut butter or 1/3 a tablespoon of mac nut butter. You body's primary source of energy is fat when you are sleeping. Taking in the peanut butter or mac nut butter with the cottage cheese or shake will help them digest slower as well. I drink a little more water then I get right back into bed. 3 Hours later I have to wake up again and use the bathroom. I do the same thing. The next time I wake up is the morning. The first thing I do when I wake up in the morning is supply my body with amino acids. Whether this be an amino acid supplement or just a scoop of whey protein. I also eat a banana for some quick energy and it helps to restock my liver glycogen levels that have been tapped into during sleep. That way my body stops using amino acids for fuel and repairs muscle with them. About 30-45 min later I eat my first meal. Try to keep this meal protein/carbs. Your first 4 meals should usually be protein/carbs then the rest should be made up of protein/fat. It only makes sense since you are only going to need the carbs to fuel your intense workouts then restore glycogen levels. Other then that theres no point to eating them cause they risk being stored as fat.
So bottom line. Eat while you sleep if you want to add muscle and keep it. This will prevent your body from turning catabolic and eating at that precious muscle that you have worked so hard to build.
Heres the one thing that could be holding you back. You sleep anywhere from 8-10 hours per night. Those other 14-16 hours that you are awake are spent eating and training. The most crucial time is eat is right after your workout right? NO! Even though eating right after your workout to supply your muscles with the building blocks to grow it is not the most important. The most important is night time nutrition. Does it make sense that you eat every 2-4 hours and always make meals on time but when you sleep you fast for 8-10 hours? Thats like missing 2-3 meals throughtout the day.
The solution? Well before bed have a casein protein shake. I make mine with as much water, ice, calorie free syrups as humanly possible. I make a mega shake everynight before bed. My shake is usually about 44 ounces and I also consume and additional 48-64 ounces of water before I go to bed. I know what your thinking...thats a shit load of liquids before bed. But it serves a purpose. After going to sleep i have to wake up and piss like a racehorse about 3 hours later. So I wake up and go to the bathroom then go downstairs to the fridge and have either another casein protein shake or cottage cheese (which is a slow digesting casein protein). I also take in 1 scoop of peanut butter or 1/3 a tablespoon of mac nut butter. You body's primary source of energy is fat when you are sleeping. Taking in the peanut butter or mac nut butter with the cottage cheese or shake will help them digest slower as well. I drink a little more water then I get right back into bed. 3 Hours later I have to wake up again and use the bathroom. I do the same thing. The next time I wake up is the morning. The first thing I do when I wake up in the morning is supply my body with amino acids. Whether this be an amino acid supplement or just a scoop of whey protein. I also eat a banana for some quick energy and it helps to restock my liver glycogen levels that have been tapped into during sleep. That way my body stops using amino acids for fuel and repairs muscle with them. About 30-45 min later I eat my first meal. Try to keep this meal protein/carbs. Your first 4 meals should usually be protein/carbs then the rest should be made up of protein/fat. It only makes sense since you are only going to need the carbs to fuel your intense workouts then restore glycogen levels. Other then that theres no point to eating them cause they risk being stored as fat.
So bottom line. Eat while you sleep if you want to add muscle and keep it. This will prevent your body from turning catabolic and eating at that precious muscle that you have worked so hard to build.