Burning fat with sleep is how I stay lean year round

By Todd Lee M.D.

Who am I? Click here for my Bio!

NEED HELP? GET A PHONE CONSULTATION OR COACHING!

The Art and Science Of Flesh Transmogrification

Competition prep is like nothing else in life. Every person who has no clue says “I know how hard you worked for …” No you don’t. You have no idea.

Competition prep was harder for me than medical school was. It is extremely hard on every part of your life. Dieting and lifting weights, the part people see, are easy compared to other parts of prep.

3 cardio sessions day with sweaty clothes, weights every day, posing every day….that's just the start.   6-12 meals a day, food prep for those meals, grocery shopping for those meals, all this takes time. The laundry from the 4 workouts a day takes time. Time on toilet increases with all the food.  24 minute tanning beds take an hour with dressing/undressing and talking to the employees at the tanning salon. On top of that you have a job, possibly kids, a woman or man to satisfy,  this all mounts up to a 20 hour work day many days a week.

On top of all this, most people in this sport don’t have assistance - We are on our own. Not finding a single person in your life to help, even when you pay them in many cases. I’ve been doing this all my life, but many of you haven’t yet started. So I'll throw some real life logistics of competition prep at you...

I hear constantly about people literally trying to sabotage someone out of jealousy:

Husbands will mess up your laundry so you have to stay in and spend time with him and the kids.

Your sister will try to tell you that you're too muscular and look like a man.

Your girlfriend takes all your diet drugs you have saved away for your prep.

Your mother will tell you that you're not eating right and your trainer doesn't know nutrition.

Your kids use all your protein powder but don’t tell you.

Your girlfriend thinks your gross pre contest so she tries to get you to cheat on your diet by kissing you with ice cream in her mouth.

All of this mounts up to stress.  And the body responds to stress with...

Cortisol

Cortisol is the stress hormone that eats away muscle and causes fat and water to accumulate.  Cortisol also raises your blood sugar and makes it hard to sleep.

Worst part is, the biggest cause of stress is lack of sleep. Thus you're launched into a vicious cycle of losing your gains while you try to get leaner. What most inexperienced coachless people do is they cut their carbs, increase their cardio, increase their protein, and take more drugs and supplements in an attempt to counteract the fat gain and muscle loss.

This just makes you more stressed and you lose more sleep and then you wake up more stressed, fatter, and less muscular.

The Importance of Sleep

Simply put, the most important thing you can do for your prep is sleep.   I am very well versed in the neurology of sleep.  I was heavily into sleep science and medicine while I was in graduate school (before Medical School).

Why? Because I have had insomnia my whole life. My mind never stops.

Why is Sleep Important in Bodybuilding?

Two reasons: Leptin and Growth Hormone

Leptin is covered in its own article and thats why its in red, you can click it to read that article. 

To sum it up for those who don't care, leptin is released after 6 hours of continuous sleep. Leptin stops Ghrelin from making you cheat on your diet. Want more details? Read the article:)

Growth Hormone is released after about 3 hours of sleep and is released every 3 hours of sleep. The more growth hormone, the more fat you lose while you sleep and the more it COMBATS CORTISOL.  This means getting sleep isn't arbitrary waste of precious time you could use for cardio or cooking. More sleep means you burn more fat, preserve more muscle, and cheat on your diet less if you sleep at least 6 hours. 8.2 is ideal.

Does this stuff apply to everyone? Of course!! This is a bodybuilding site so I am addressing the specific needs of bodybuilders. But fat loss is fat loss, and your body doesn't know you have a show or not, it only knows what's happening to it and how to react.

Since you need sleep to live, not sleeping causes your body STRESS so it releases cortisol the stress hormone to  fight this stress. It directly eats muscles and turns them into carbs so you have energy. If you're sitting still you just store the carbs as fat. It literally eats your muscles and makes you fat. It’s the opposite of GH or Testosterone.  Shitty doctors prescribe prednisone, a version of cortisol, which is 3 times stronger at destroying your body. Why? A combination of ignorance and greed. If you stay sick you get more office visits and prescriptions. More money for the hospital, pharmacy, and private practice groups. The rich get richer and the sick get sicker. Some doctors simply don’t know. Maybe this is because the pharm companies are now writing the med school text books.

Summary

If you want the very best prep and the best body possible get at least 6 hours of sleep.  To get the most out of your sleep take  Dragon Dreams. This will cause a much greater GH release and you will burn more fat and preserve more muscle. Assuming you have Thor’s Hammer Combo pack when you wake up, the fat loss and GH from sleep continues all day until you end up having carbs (which you shouldn't have until workout time).

Need Help Sleeping?

I have figured out some stuff about how to sleep by dealing with my own insomnia and in medical school I learned about all the prescription drugs that work and how.

Falling Asleep

There are basic Sleep Hygiene rules:

Sleep Hygiene is the term for how to approach the ritual of sleeping.  If you ritualize sleep it works better.

Melatonin is a natural solution to insomnia. It is the hormone released by your pineal gland when the lights go off. My ex wife was like a parakeet. When she was tired and cranky I would turn the lights out and she would pass out!

Melatonin is a supplement that works just like putting a blanket on a parakeet's cage. It is the most natural way to induce sleep and it can keep you asleep the longest of the knockout mechanisms.

Start with 1 mg.  As you use it over the span of days and weeks your body will adjust and you'll need more. I think the most I have ever used was 40 mg a night. At this point you might as well put it away for a month and use the stack I list below to fill in that time gap before going back to melatonin.

Melatonin along with Gaba are the main sleep hormone and neurotransmitter respectively. Both are in DRAGON DREAMS the sleep aid I invented. 

For an article on Dreams and how they are relevant Click Here!

For an article on Sleep Metabolism Click Here!

Disclaimer

Nothing in this article or on this site should be considered medical advice or as an endorsement to violate any law of the country in which you reside.  The information given is for fun and entertainment purposes only.  All statements are 100% dependent upon proper diet and exercise.  Please consult a medical practitioner prior to any diet and exercise program.