Those of us who are a never-ending quest for muscle greatness do a pretty good job of getting everything dialed in just right.
We plan our meals giving consideration to the perfect nutrient ratios that are most conducive to massive lean weight gain and fat shredding. Our workouts are meticulously designed and executed with vomit-inducing intensity.
Sleep Deprivation
But one thing bodybuilders, strength athletes and muscle
enthusiasts typically neglect is perhaps the most important aspect of insane,
rapid muscle growth: quality sleep.
Please take note that I didn’t simply state that sleep in general is the
key to inducing mind-blowing muscle hypertrophy; I purposely stated that quality sleep is critical to build
massive amounts of muscle tissue.
How Much Sleep Is Best?
It’s an unfortunate fact for busy muscle-seeking folk that
in order to build large quantities of muscle mass quickly, at least eight hours
of continuous, uninterrupted sleep is ideal.
To enhance muscle building efforts, a daily one hour nap may also be beneficial.
This amount of sleep is
required for the body to take advantage of naturally elevated levels of
anabolic hormones and build muscle fibers thicker, fuller and stronger.
Fasting Kills Muscle Gains
One of the main arguments against sleeping for extended
periods of time is that fasting is believed to cause muscle wasting and reduced
strength levels. The fact is, when blood
sugar levels are reduced for several hours at a time, powerfully anabolic growth
hormone is released.
Growth hormone levels
spike several times during sleep cycles over a full night’s sleep. By depriving the body of extended, uninterrupted
sleep you are also depriving your body the ability to building muscle by
reducing its exposure to growth hormone.
However, to satisfy those who argue that being fed is
superior to being rested when it comes to building muscle, there is a
solution. The challenge is how to allow
there to be a continuous supply of anabolic compounds while allowing the body
to sleep and experience an adequate growth hormone response.
The Perfect Protein
The idea is to ingest a high quality protein supplement that
has a minimal impact on blood sugar and insulin levels while being absorbed
slowly enough to supply the body with a sustained amount of quality nutrition. This does not mean eating a big steak or
chugging a weight gain shake right before bed.
Instead, it simply requires using a small serving of a high quality low
carbohydrate casein supplement.
Casein is a slow digesting milk protein that has minimal
impact on blood sugar levels if consumed as a low carbohydrate supplement. Simply drinking milk before bed will not
result in the desired muscle building results because it is relatively high in
sugar and can cause digestive discomfort in some people. This will result in poor quality sleep and a
reduced growth hormone response.
The best way to consume an adequate supply of high quality
casein protein while allowing the body to naturally increase its levels of anabolic
hormones is to take one serving, typically about 25 grams, of pure, low
carbohydrate casein protein such as
Optimum Nutrition’s Gold Standard 100% Casein, (affiliate link) in water right before bed. This will result in the slowly digestion and
sustained release of the muscle building nutrients found in casein protein.
It’s important to remember that supplementing with casein protein will yield the best results when taken before an extended period of sleep on an empty stomach with water.
This provides for an
optimal anabolic environment and for the development of an incredible amount of
muscle mass. The addition of casein protein consumed in this manner can trigger immediate and noticeable increases in muscle mass that have never been experienced.
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