Not Enough Sleep

[dossas]

Hello All.

A question about sleeping longer. I pretty much wake up 6 hrs after going to sleep. I'll go to bed around 9-10 pm and wake up at 3-4 am automatically. It's not like I wake up and feel totally refreshed and awake. I usually end up going to the bathroom and then get back into bed. The problem is I find it very difficult to go back to sleep. Sometimes I do fall back to sleep, but then the alarm goes off for 5 am. WTF!!!

Any advice on sleeping longer?

Note: I do generally have pretty good, deep sleep. I just wish I could sleep 7-8 hrs without interruption. I would be very relunctant to try medication - the last thing I need is to get hooked on a sleeping aid.

Anyone ever try melatonin? Any dependency?

[BendtheBar]

It happens to a lot of us as we age. Some of it is hormonal, part of it can be diet.

A few things have helped me:

1) Cutting off caffeine after noon.
2) Eating fats within 2 hours before bed.
3) Taking a sleep supp like Bullet Proof on days when my brain won't shut down.

I can't say these things are magical but they have helped me some.

[dossas]

Thx for the reply BTB.

Most days I get my caffeine fix via a preworkout in the morning. I workout first thing in the morning.

I was taking ZMA a while ago and it did help with the deep sleep - can't remember if it helped me sleep longer.

Sometimes I have my dinner within 1-2 hrs of going to sleep.

I'll look into Bulletproof.

[cromlet]

I know that if I have caffeine after 4 I usually do not sleep well. I have tried melatonin and for me it did not work. But I have heard that many have had great results with it.

[jdmalm123]

Late caffeine is an issue for me too...

If not that, it's usually some pain or muscle tightness...try taking an aspirin before bed (if you're not allergic). Many benefits to this routine.

The majority of your growth hormone release and recover is in the first 4 hours of good sleep, but more is always better when you're lifting.

Can you take naps without messing up your day or sleep schedule?

[dossas]

I can usually only nap Fri or Sat since I don't have to worry about what time I go to bed (I could nap after work - around 4pm - but that would mean I would go to bed way later and have a hard time falling asleep).

The only caffeine I get is in my preworkout first thing in the morning. My workouts are around 6-7:30 am. I don't drink coffee/tea/pop after that (just H2O and milk).

I've read that overtraining can affect your sleep. The thing is that I don't feel like I'm overtraining. I don't feel down, depressed, lethargy, unmotivated, etc.

[jdmalm123]

I've had insomnia and irregular sleep at times with no apparent reason.

I've tried melatonin, but was not really impressed.

Advil PM or similar or the sleep ingredient only (without the pain killer) always works if I really need to sleep...no grogginess and no addiction.

[hercules455]

I find that I sleep deeper longer when I take ZMA! Cutting caffeine out a few hours before bedtime might help to.