Interrupting sleep to eat

[needtolosequick]

During the weekdays I have a good schedule that allows me to wake up early and eat clean throughout the day starting between 6-7 am. The weekends mess this up and sometimes bleed over in to my Mondays (Tonight for example).

I don't like trying to cram meals in but as you all know you have to eat well to make the most of the training you do.

My question is this, would it be worth waking up and eating a meal and going back to sleep for a few hours or would that be negating any of the recovery benefits from sleep?

For example, instead of waking up at 10 am tomorrow and starting my meals at that time would it be ok to get up at 6 or 7, eat and then go back to bed till 10?

I want to optimize my training and I know eating and rest are just as important as putting time in at the gym.

[Suareezay]

no sense in it at all if you are getting sufficient calories during your waking hours.

[Trevdog]

That's a big "if".

I wouldn't say it is so cut and dry. If you are flat out bulking and you are able to go back to sleep easily, I believe that the benefit of extra calories in the middle of what would otherwise be a long fast would outweigh the benefit lost in being awake for a short period.

[mattd46612]

I would think the sleep interruption would always be longer than you plan. And it takes a while to get into REM sleep. Slam a huge shake before bed and be done with it.

[Suareezay]

well i agree with you there.

but, given the choice of

a. eating hypercalorically during the waking hours and getting continuous sleep
b. eating hypocalorically during the waking hours and waking up to eat

i would choose the former, just for the sake of simplicity. I also want to say theres some benefit to continuous, uninterrupted sleep (something having to do with the number of 90 minute sleep cycles perhaps?), but i could be imagining this.

Also considering a 30g serving of casein alone takes upwards of 6 hours to digest, and assuming you get a decent serving of slow digesting protein before bed, the "long fast" becomes a non-issue.

[adidamps2]

well i agree with you there.

but, given the choice of

a. eating hypercalorically during the waking hours and getting continuous sleep
b. eating hypocalorically during the waking hours and waking up to eat

i would choose the former, just for the sake of simplicity. I also want to say theres some benefit to continuous, uninterrupted sleep (something having to do with the number of 90 minute sleep cycles perhaps?), but i could be imagining this.

Also considering a 30g serving of casein alone takes upwards of 6 hours to digest, and assuming you get a decent serving of slow digesting protein before bed, the "long fast" becomes a non-issue.

that 6 hrs when awake...if i am not mistaken metabolism is slowed down during sleep hrs. so that could even prolong that time period to the full 8 hrs or more.

[Behemoth]

But in the end, if you need the calories, you need the calories. I've yet to see a study that says interrupted sleep or lack of sleep will directly impact hypertrophy. But... what I do, rather than wake up in the middle of the night to eat, is just not go to sleep until I've got enough calories for the day.
This is assuming you are bulking.

[ripper101]

I read that Jay Cutler wakes up to have a shake on the basis that if your asleep for 8 hour your fasting for 8 hour. If you can be bothered to get up and drink a shake then go for it.

[IronRobi]

that 6 hrs when awake...if i am not mistaken metabolism is slowed down during sleep hrs. so that could even prolong that time period to the full 8 hrs or more.

The slow metabolism is the first thing that came to my mind. If you're on an all out bulk it wouldn't be a big deal. Otherwise you are slowing your metabolism, waking up and kickstarting it but then going right back to sleep and slowing it down again before your entire meal gets processed.

[ripper101]

Yeah I agree with No1stunna. I wouldnt sit down for a full blown meal. Just down a high protein shake. Keep the carbs to a minimum.

[Skarhead1]

sleep is too important to be ****ing around with

[Suareezay]

I've yet to see a study that says interrupted sleep or lack of sleep will directly impact hypertrophy.

i too have yet to see such a study, but i still know sleep is important.

i have also yet to see oxygen, but i know its important.

[Skarhead1]

who cares abou ta ****in study. behemoth get 4 hours of sleep every night...lemme know how your gains go

[Suareezay]

these are a little vague, provide no references, could be total boolsheet, and are therefore more or less utterly useless, but at least i know im not imagining having read that uninterrupted sleep > interrupted sleep

http://www.teenbodybuilding.com/brent3.htm

Sleep can be broken down into 4 stages - First Stage, Second Stage, Third Stage, and Fourth Stage. The 3rd and 4th stages are the most important stages during sleep because they pertain to physical activity. The stages are "completed" with relation to time in sleep.

For instance, say a person slept for an hour, they probably would have only reached stage 1. Getting more uninterupted sleep is key to reaching stages 3 and 4.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/phano50.htm

As you may know, your body's recuperative processes rely heavily on deep sleep (REM or Stage 4 sleep). Waking up during the night makes it difficult for your body to fall into the kind of deep sleep you need for this recuperative process to occur.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/berardi70.htm

Four Elements Of Quality Sleep

1. Uninterrupted Sleep

[Suareezay]

get 4 hours of sleep every night...lemme know how your gains go

oddly enough, i was going to post the same thing.

only i was going to say 1 hour instead of 4.

[MilkDaScow]

i used to keep a shake in the fridge at night with ~50 grams of whey... if I wake up to piss, i'd drink it... if not it got used the next day

5 out of 7 nights I was drinking the shake

[Behemoth]

who cares abou ta ****in study. behemoth get 4 hours of sleep every night...lemme know how your gains go

Yeah, bro, who cares about science. You gotta ignore that stuff and focus on the real world, bro.

Obviously sleep is important. It's important for recovery, etc, blah blah. We wouldn't have to sleep if it weren't important. That's not what I was stating.

You can still grow without adequate sleep. I have insomnia a lot and can also rarely sleep the whole night without waking up a few times. I've still made gains, so...
Is this OPTIMAL? Of course not. Can it be done though? Yes, it can.

[Easto]

IMO - Sleep is more important than a meal in the middle of the night.

But what you can do is make a protein shake and keep in by your bed or near the washroom. IF you wake up in the middle of the night to take a leak, slam the shake.

I'm sure if you are drinking 1-2 gallons of water per day, night time pee sessions are a common occurrence.

[Drako]

You could always hook yourself up to a drip...

[adidamps2]

You could always hook yourself up to a drip...

i've had the drip, it wasn't fun

[needtolosequick]

IMO - Sleep is more important than a meal in the middle of the night.

But what you can do is make a protein shake and keep in by your bed or near the washroom. IF you wake up in the middle of the night to take a leak, slam the shake.

I'm sure if you are drinking 1-2 gallons of water per day, night time pee sessions are a common occurrence.

check

[Trevdog]

well i agree with you there.

but, given the choice of

a. eating hypercalorically during the waking hours and getting continuous sleep
b. eating hypocalorically during the waking hours and waking up to eat

i would choose the former, just for the sake of simplicity. I also want to say theres some benefit to continuous, uninterrupted sleep (something having to do with the number of 90 minute sleep cycles perhaps?), but i could be imagining this.

Also considering a 30g serving of casein alone takes upwards of 6 hours to digest, and assuming you get a decent serving of slow digesting protein before bed, the "long fast" becomes a non-issue.

I don't disagree with any of this. However, I am not certain that you wouldn't do better with two 4 hour sessions with a slow digesting shake in between.

I also like the idea of not setting an alarm and thus interrupting your normal sleep pattern. However, I always have to get up to pee, and a quick shake then probably won't do much harm, and might do a lot of good.

[Phil9999]

i personally just drink one of the those NEW WHEY test tubes in the middle of the night. 42 g of protein. I dont know if its mental but i feel fuller when i wake up in the morning.