Is Your (Lack of) Sleep Affecting Your Progress?

In a productivity-driven society, sleep is a bit of a double-edged sword.  For most adults, the optimal amount of sleep is 7-9 hours per night, and leads to better cognitive function and more focus.  However, in a quest to get more done, sleep is also one of the first things that is sacrificed at the altar of deadlines and distractions.

What else are we giving up when we start to chip away at how much time we spend in bed?  Well, among other things, we’re giving up results.

Studies have shown that disrupted sleep can impact fat loss by up to 50%, without any change in diet or exercise.  

That’s not all. Lack of sleep impacts your insulin sensitivity, or your ability to utilize sugar in your bloodstream, by as much as 30%, making it more likely that it’ll be stored as bodyfat instead of absorbed by your muscles.

There is also evidence that your brain may not process the cues for hunger and satiety the same way, making it harder to regulate cravings.

Lastly, reduced sleep will likely impact how well your muscles and cardiovascular system recover from exercise, which can mean that your performance at subsequent workouts may suffer.

That means that instead of deciding how low you’d like to cut your carbs or which HIIT workout you should do today in a quest to create more fat loss, you might be better off taking that same time and energy and directing it toward getting to sleep a little earlier than usual first.

And it’s not just the length of time you spend in bed that matters – if you frequently wake up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, or sleep so lightly that the slightest noise wakes you up, you’ll experience similar issues. Both quality and quantity of sleep matter.

Here are some of the simplest tactics to start employing in order to correct a sleep deficit that’s making it harder to progress:

• Stop using electronics before bed. The blue light emitted by phones, computers, and TV’s is similar to the UV light from the sun, tricking your brain into thinking that it’s still daylight and stopping your body’s natural wind-down as part of its circadian rhythm.
• Utilize guided breathing apps. Apps like Headspace or Calm help you get control over your breathing, driving your parasympathetic nervous system (your “rest and digest” system) and lowering your sympathetic nervous system’s output (your “fight or flight” system). Even 5-10 minutes before bed can help put you into a more restful state.
• Use 400-600mg of magnesium daily to help combat stress. Stress tends to cause plenty of problems in daily life, and poor sleep is definitely one of them. The mineral magnesium is responsible for over 300 different chemical reactions in your body, including helping your muscles relax. But, if there’s one thing we know about stress, it’s that it doesn’t tend to correlate well with relaxed muscles, and part of that is that the stress hormone cortisol depletes magnesium stores in the body, which means supplementation is necessary for nearly everybody who is reading this (yes, even you who is currently Googling the accuracy of all of this information). We recommend using a chelated form of magnesium like a magnesium citrate/malate combination as it’s absorbed much better than the more common magnesium oxide. Spread it throughout the day for best results.
• Use 3-10mg of melatonin before bed if you can’t fall asleep. Melatonin is one of your body’s primary sleep hormones and helps regulate your circadian rhythm. However, we synthesize most of our melatonin from serotonin, the body’s “feel good” hormone, and, just like magnesium, high levels of the stress hormone cortisol depletes your serotonin stores, leaving nothing behind to convert to melatonin. Take about 60-90 minutes before bed to give it time to kick in.
• Use 200-400mg of 5-HTP if you have difficulty staying asleep. 5-HTP (5-hydroxytryptophan) is a precursor to serotonin, which, as mentioned above, then converts into melatonin. Pure melatonin tends to be more effective at getting to sleep as it doesn’t need to be converted, and 5-HTP helps continue the process throughout the night. I’ve often found that people who wake up with their mind racing do well with this taken about 30-45 minutes before bed, although if you’re using melatonin you could just take them both together.

One important note about the use of 5-HTP – if you’ve been prescribed an antidepressant like an SSRI or MAO inhibitor by your doctor for anxiety or depression, 5-HTP is absolutely contraindicated and you should consult your physician before using.

Improving your sleep is also going to involve more long-term solutions – better work/life balance, less time scrolling through social media for no reason, etc. – but problem-solving is often a mix of short-term fixes and long-term solutions, and short-term fixes will get the ball rolling.

What’s your favorite trick to sleep better? Leave it in the comments below!