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The "Colorado Experiment," A great post from an other member!

Nemain

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A member posted this in an other section, interesting enough. Figured I share this.



The "Colorado Experiment," one of the most phenomenal ever conducted, documents how Casey Viator (youngest Mr. America in history) gained 63 pounds of lean muscle mass in only 28 days under strict supervision and constant monitoring. Casey's incredible results had a lot to do with his muscle memory and the fact that he's one of the most genetically gifted bodybuilders of all time.

The purpose of the Colorado Experiment was to demonstrate that rapid and large-scale increases in both muscle mass and strength. could be accomplished by maximum stimulation during every workout, with not more than three workouts per week lasting less than an hour each.

Besides this ultra-high intensity training, there was no special diet involved, nor were growth-stimulating agents of any type used.

According to Casey a major factor in spectacular gains was the balance between grueling workouts and more than adequate sleep or rest needed for muscle recovery.

Bodybuilders spend countless hours in the gym training with fierce intensity and determination to achieve maximum gains. But even with proper nutrition and supplementation you only have part of the formula, and thus you can only attain a certain point of development.

Your hard training is what stimulates muscle growth, strength and size, and you must permit this growth to occur by getting the necessary amount of sleep required for your body to recover. This is the only way to achieve ultimate training gains. Remember, the two most important factors for the greatest and fastest possible gains in muscle mass and strength are maximum training intensity and adequate recovery through sleep and rest.

You spend about a third of your life in sleep (about 220,000 hours, or 25 years by the time you reach 70), yet scientists still don't know precisely the many things that sleep accomplishes. Sleep is interwoven with every facet of an athlete's daily life. It affects health and well-being, moods and behavior, energy and emotions, even one's sanity. All these factors comprise the heart of a champion.

We often think of sleep as a simple state of quiet and inactivity into which the brain passively sinks. But many complex activities occur in the brain and body during sleep. Sleep doesn't turn off the body's systems. In fact, some systems are more turned on during sleep than during wakefulness.

Of major importance to bodybuilders is the fact that the body is in an anabolic state when asleep. During this phase of metabolism, growth occurs, tissues rebuild, protein is assimilated and many important energy stores are replaced. This counteracts catabolism, the opposite phase of metabolism, in which the daily tearing-down process and expenditure of energy occurs. Sleep is what readies you physiologically and psychologically for your next productive workout. If you have ever experienced insomnia, you know the effect it has on training.

SLEEP RHYTHMS

Every bodybuilder has a unique sleep/wake cycle that is one of many genetically determined biological processes, just like eye and hair color. This sleep/wake cycle is a circadian rhythm that fluctuates roughly on a 24-hour cycle and is governed by an internal body clock. Researchers have discovered a "rhythm gene" in DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) that contains the body's code for the necessary amount of sleep each individual requires, as well as sleep length, depth and structure.

Our sleepiness or alertness is determined by the hormonal secretions that regulate body temperature. Most people normally become sleepy between 7 PM and midnight, a period during which body temperature falls rapidly, and are most alert about six hours after waking, when the body temperature is near its highest. When you go to bed during the downward curve of your body-temperature cycle (as most people do), you sleep until the next upward-temperature curve, an average of 7.8 hours.

WHAT HAPPENS DURING SLEEP?

When you're asleep, the kind of electroencephalograph (EEG) waves your brain produces differs from those made when you are awake. In a conscious state, the brain generates very small, fast waves or oscillations. When you sleep, it generates slower and bigger waves, depending on how you are sleeping. The reason is that when you're awake, each nerve cell in your brain fires individually. When you sleep, more of the nerve cells start working together.

You alternate between two completely different types of sleep. One is the type during which you dream, called REM sleep due to the characteristic rapid eye movements that occur while you dream. The other is non-REM or non-dreaming sleep.

Sleep begins with non-REM, which has four distinct stages or levels:

Stage 1 (light sleep)

o Muscles relax and your thoughts drift.
o Brain waves slow down from about average waking speed of 13 to 35 cycles (pulsations) per second (beta waves) to 8 to 12 cycles per second (alpha waves).
o Blood pressure drops.
o Pulse rate declines by about 10 beats per minute.
o Blood sugar and calcium levels rise.
o Temperature declines.
o The body begins to detoxif3ç excreting toxins from the cells. This process usually peaks near 4 AM.
o You can be awakened easily

Stage 2 (medium sleep)

o Brain waves slow to three to seven pulsations per second (theta waves).
o Blood pressure, body temperature and pulse continue to decline.
o Eyes may move slowly from side to side.
o You can still be awakened easily

Stages 3 and 4 (deep sleep - most important for bodybuilders)

o Long, slow brain waves of less than four cycles per second (delta waves).

o Muscles are relaxed and breathing is even.
o Growth hormone is released by the pituitary gland during deep sleep, which occurs 60 to 90 minutes after sleep begins. This is the largest spurt of OH during the entire 24 hours.
o Body recovery takes place and most of your blood is directed to the muscles. Although the brain is capable of thought during delta sleep, thinking during these stages is sparse and fragmented, due to the diminished flow of blood to the brain.
o Muscle growth occurs, tissues are repaired and the immune system is maintained.
o 90% of the kidney's function of waste- product removal is accomplished during this stage.
o You are not easily awakened.

Stages 3 and 4 of the non-REM period may last from only a few minutes up to about an hour, depending on age, with 25% of total sleep time occurring during young adulthood - more for children and less for older people. You may be described as "dead to the world" during stage 4.

Stage 5 (REM sleep, or dream sleep)

o Characterized by rapid eye movements.
o Dreaming occurs.
o Brain waves quicken to the speed of 13 to 35 cycles per second.
o Your heartbeat and blood pressure fluctuate, becoming irregular.
o Breathing becomes faster.
o You are in a state of arousal and the adrenal glands pour larger amounts of hormones into the body
o Certain steroid levels increase to the highest of the day
o More blood flows into the brain and less goes into the body

Your first nightly encounter with REM sleep lasts from five to ten minutes. This complete trip through the five sleep stages lasts about 90 minutes, and then stages two through five repeat themselves with variations in length from four to five times during the course of one and restful. There is a gradual decrease in delta (the deepest sleep) throughout life. A steady amount of exercise deepens sleep over the long run, so always keep active.

CREATING OPTIMUM SLEEP CONDITIONS

Evaluate your sleep needs to determine the necessary number of hours conducive to your training and feeling good. Keep a regular sleep schedule. This may be the single most important rule you can follow, especially when getting ready for competitions. Alterations in a sleep/wake pattern may affect the efficiency of your training performance, as well as your moods and behavior. The important thing is regular hours, not necessarily which hours they are.

Establish bedtime rituals. By following a routine every night you are doing an exercise in conditioning that sets up a mental pattern that suggests sleep. For some people, sex is a pre-sleep bedtime activity and for others, a hot bath helps induce sleep.

Exercise is one of the best methods to get your body and mind in shape for an efficient night's sleep, as long as you don't do it too late in the evening or too early in the morning. Better in the early morning than not at all, of course, but the most beneficial exercise in promoting deeper sleep should be done in the afternoon or early evening and just before supper.

Allow time to clear your mind and wind down. Don't tackle any problems or discuss controversial subjects. if you can't sleep, get out of bed. Sleep is one aspect of life in which trying harder doesn't help you succeed. Try reading or concentrate on something that doesn't involve much muscular movement. Focus your mind away from worrying about falling asleep, and it will occur naturally Get into bed only when you are sleepy.

Do not read, watch TV or eat in bed if you have sleep problems. This will help you associate the bed only with sleeping. Reduce caffeine products such as coffee, tea, cola drinks and chocolate products. Also avoid prescription and nonprescription drugs for pain, weight-control, alertness, diuretics and cold/allergy remedies. Read the labels.

Avoid alcohol after 6 PM, and altogether if possible. Alcohol produces poor-quality sleep characterized by many awakenings, little or no delta sleep and decreased REM sleep. Eliminate cigarettes. Nicotine is a stimulant just like caffeine.

Do not use sleeping pills. They can distort sleep patterns, cause addictions, mask other problems and affect the day after. The effectiveness of most sleeping pills drops off after one to two weeks. They should be avoided whenever people are depressed, drink too much or have breathing problems.

Get up at the same time every morning regardless of how much or how little sleep you get during the night. Do not fall asleep with the light or radio on. Even though the noise or light may not awaken you, it can deprive you of needed deep steep for recovery, growth and strength.

Make your bedroom the best it can be for good sleep. This includes a comfortable mattress and pillow. For sounder sleep, keep out noises and light. Even if you think you can sleep through noise, you're wrong. Tests show that noises jar you out of your deep or REM sleep into stage one (light sleep) even if they don't waken you. if your clock bothers you, move it or turn it around so it can't be seen.

The temperature of your bedroom should not be too hot or too cold. Temperatures below 60 and above 75 degrees F were found to disturb sleep in most cases. Be sure the humidity is right for you. If you have allergies, get rid of dust or other pollutants.

When you sleep with someone, chances are that you will have less of the deep delta sleep needed for body recovery It takes at least ten minutes of undisturbed sleep before such delta sleep can occur, and if one partner moves during night's sleep. Deep sleep becomes briefer in the course of a night or may disappear, while REM sleep becomes progressively longer, marking the last stage of each cycle.

The total amount and quality of sleep you get is of major importance. Dream sleep is important in that it stimulates the desire to train hard, maintains psychological well-being, consolidates and sorts memory and helps brain development and learning.

Deep (delta) sleep stimulates growth, revitalizes and restores the body and brain, allows the body to fight infections and illness and maintains physiological well-being. Waste products are expelled and energy reserves are rebuilt during deep sleep.

In order to reach deep sleep and dream stage, your sleep must be continuous, not fragmented with awakenings. While this is crucial for good health and well-being, it is essential for maximal muscular growth and tissue repair.

HOW MUCH SLEEP DOES A BODYBUILDER NEED?

Since every bodybuilder is different, each one may need differing amounts of sleep depending on age, lifestyle and ability to handle stress. There is no such thing as a "normal amount" of sleep, but whatever amount any one person needs is amazingly constant. Although you may sleep longer one night than another, the number of hours you sleep over a week or a month usually averages out very much the same.

Seven to eight hours of sleep a night is the usual quoted average, but it has nothing to do with what's good or bad. Research shows that a good night's sleep can range from three hours to more than 10. The quality of sleep makes quantity less important. In other words, it's not only how much you sleep but how well that determines your recovery rate, growth and how refreshed you feel the following day.

Many athletes reported sleeping fewer hours and still getting all the deep sleep they needed to restore their bodies. Since stage four (deep sleep for growth) is always bunched near the beginning of the night, a short deeper sleep should still get just as much deep sleep, depending on age.

You can discover your sleep need by keeping a "sleep diary". Go to sleep at the same time for a week and wake up without an alarm clock. Your body will show you the answer.

Though you require about the same amount of sleep at ail ages, as the body gets older, the pattern of sleep changes and the quality becomes less efficient those ten minutes and disturbs the other, the clock apparently is set back to zero and the ten minutes have to start over again. Separate beds may be of help if you sleep poorly.

ARE NAPS BENEFICIAL TO BODYBUILDERS?

Eating all your food in a single meal each day is not the best way to eat. Likewise, getting all your rest in a single time frame may not be the best way to sleep. If you have problems sleeping at night, naps may be the answer.

Napping can help maintain or restore performance, especially when sustained high levels of performance are required at a time when there is little or no opportunity for normal nocturnal sleep.

Naps as short as 10 minutes can have a restorative effect on performance. Naps of 60 to 90 minutes may have the optimum growth and recovery effect, although each nap may present its own individual differences in effect.

Naps should be taken before a large amount of sleep loss accumulates in order to prevent injury and deterioration in muscle size, strength and energy levels. Many bodybuilders feel naps are essential for optimum gains, but due to jobs and other responsibilities they're unable to take them.

HOW DIET CAN AFFECT SLEEP

To ensure sound sleep, eat a light dinner about four hours before bedtime. It should consist of a small amount of protein (to prevent nighttime hunger pangs), a high percentage of complex carbohydrates and low amounts of fat. Although a large late-evening meal can make you feel drowsy, it can also disrupt your sleep cycle by keeping your digestive system working overtime.

Avoid snacks that cause indigestion or heartburn, such as fatty foods, heavily garlic-flavored or highly spiced foods, if gas disturbs your sleep, avoid beans, cucumbers and other foods that contribute to this malodorous malady. Many people are sensitive to monosodium glutamate (MSG), which can cause many symptoms including insomnia, if you notice that insomnia occurs on nights that you have eaten Chinese food, MSG may be the problem.

Bodybuilders and others who are dieting may sleep poorly and awaken frequently, especially in the second half of the night. A low-calorie carbohydrate snack before bed may solve the problem. Serotonin released in the brain by carbohydrates induces sleep. Normal sleep requires serotonin, and without this chemical sleep is curtailed.

Some vitamins and minerals that affect sleep include B-complex, C, D, calcium, magnesium, zinc, copper and iron.
 
From an other member as well...

The three sides of the strength pyramid are nutrition, training and rest. Most people who are serious about getting stronger pay close attention to the first two factors but frequently ignore the third and suffer the consequences.

Sleep isn't a luxury for the human body; it's a genuine necessity. Extended periods of sleep deprivation can lead to amnesia, delusions and hallucinations. Shorter stretches cause forgetfulness, sour moods and irritability. Health authorities believe that people can go without food longer than they can without sleep.

If you're trying to gain strength, sleep becomes even more important because it's synonymous with recovery. If your body doesn't get to fully recuperate from a hard workout, there's no way it will be ready for the next one.

Sleep has been called many things, "the exit from consciousness," "a rendezvous with Morpheus" but my favorite is "little brother of death." When you sleep, your higher brain centers go into temporary retirement so they can go about the essential business of repairing and
recuperating. The downtime lets the muscular system and, more important, the nervous system recharge. It's as if the nerve connections to the cortical centers of the brain have been unplugged. The unconscious self continues working; otherwise the organism would perish. Digestive, respiratory and circulatory systems continue to function, while the unconscious portion of the personality manifests itself in the form of dreams.

Heavy training destroys tissue. In order for the tissue to be repaired, your body needs the proper nutrients and deep sleep. One of the key events that occurs during sleep is that the body releases growth hormone, which is critical for making repairs, maintaining tonus in the muscles and keeping fat in the cells. Since the body makes growth hormone only during deep sleep, the question becomes, How do you get to the place we call deep sleep?

The process of falling asleep has always fascinated me because I do love to sleep. I list it as one of my hobbies, along with reading fiction and doing pastels. It wasn't until I researched the subject for a chapter in The Strongest Shall Survive that I finally learned what went on in my body each night.

Sleep doesn't come in a rush; it dances about in stages. When you first lie down, you may drift off for a while, then awaken. The light rest is known as the "threshold of sleep." If you were to awaken completely during this stage, you'd most likely feel as though you hadn't slept at all.

Now comes the first genuine sleep stage, known as stage 1: Your body becomes very relaxed, your temperature starts to drop, and your heart rate slows. Researchers contend that you think disconnected thoughts in this stage, closer to daydreams than those that come later.

Steadily, you descend into stages 2 and 3. Body temperature continues to drop and heart rate slows further. After approximately an hour and a half you enter the deepest level of sleep, stage 4, the stage from which it's extremely difficult to awaken someone.

What happens next I find intriguing. You might assume, as I did, that after going to all the trouble to reach stage 4, you'd remain there until it was time to wake up. Not so. Instead, you go back through the stages, reentering 3, 2 and, finally, 1; however, this stage 1 is not identical to the stage 1 you passed through earlier, since you're still dreaming. While it's not the restful slumber of stage 4, you're further from the waking world than you've been thus far.

During this stage your eyes are in constant and rapid motion, a.k.a. REM, for rapid eye movement. Not only the eyes but also the entire body may be in motion. Arms and legs may thrash about, the heart may beat wildly and blood pressure may fluctuate as if you were experiencing a terrifying situation. It doesn't necessarily signify that you're having a bad dream; frantic body motions like that can occur during pleasant dreams as well.

The first REM period lasts about 10 minutes. After that you go through the four stages of sleep once again. At the end of another 90-minute cycle you start dreaming again during the REM period. The actual length of each sleep cycle varies with the individual, but 90 minutes is typical. At the conclusion of the sleeping period, usually seven or eight hours, the body prepares itself to be awake as body temperature and heart rate begin to rise.

Fundamentally, there are two types of sleep: REM and non-REM. During REM sleep the brain is active, but you are not. Cranial activity increases, which results in eye and body movement. Non-REM sleep is a state of unconsciousness, without any dreams. Brain activity deepens into slow delta waves, and increased levels of oxygen flow slowly through the bloodstream. During a night of sleep people move through the four stages an average of six times, spending less and less time in the deep stage and longer periods in REM stages as the night progresses.

Scientists know that sleep is necessary for restoration, but they don't know exactly how that process occurs. They do think that the body does most of its repairing in stages 3 and 4, which are non REM sleep. During REM sleep the mind is busy processing new information and experiences through the filters of past experiences.

Getting enough rest is critical to your overall health. A lack of sleep, even for a single night, can have a huge effect on your immune system. Research has shown that there's a 20-to-30-percent drop in immune system cells that fight cancer and viruses after only one night of sleeplessness. If it continues over several days, the percentage of decrease of immune system cells climbs drastically, but the good news is that you can bring the number of cells back to normal with a solid night's sleep.

So how much sleep is enough? That's an individual matter, and it depends on a great many variables. The notion that eight hours of sleep is proper for everyone can be traced back to England's King Alfred the Great, who informed his subjects that the virtuous should spend eight hours a day working, eight hours playing and eight hours sleeping.

A person who exercises regularly, eats well and doesn't work ridiculously long hours does just fine on seven or eight hours of sleep. Some can get by on much less, while others require more. My needs vary according to my physical activities and whether I'm involved in any project that taps my creativity. When I trained heavy, my sleep requirements went up by two hours a night.

Sleep is the most critical variable affecting my training, much more so than diet. What I eat doesn't affect my workouts nearly as much as how well I slept the night before, and that's true for a great many others.

People today sleep an average of only seven hours a night. They work almost 160 hours more each year than their grandparents did and get 20 percent less sleep. Work-related stress is the main reason so many suffer from sleep deprivation, but there's a large group, especially high school and collegiate athletes, who don't get enough rest because they stay up late at night studying. Or partying.

Even the most conscientious strength athletes will have one or more nights when they can't get their needed rest. It might be because of a full moon, or the position of their biorhythms or an upcoming job interview. The reason isn't important. What is important is to know what to do about your training when it happens to you. Many believe it's best to skip the planned workout after a poor night's sleep. I don't. Skipping a workout for any reason sets a precedent, making it easier and easier to skip another.

While I don't believe in missing a session, I do make adjustments. One of the best things you can do is slip in a nap prior to your workout. A short nap can do wonders, and research shows that a short nap is really more beneficial than a longer one. You don't want to drop off into the deeper stages of sleep before training because it will make you groggy. Twenty to 30 minutes is plenty. I taught my athletes that when they stayed up all night preparing for exams, they should take a short nap after the test and then come to the weight room. It works wonderfully.

I know a nap isn't always possible, though, so what else can you do after a night when you didn't get your needed rest? Taking some extra B-complex vitamins can make the difference between a crappy session and a productive one. I kept a stock of them in my gym bag and handed them out to droopy athletes. Caffeine is also useful, and a combination of caffeine and B-complex vitamins is even better.

Learn to make some adjustments in your workouts on sleep-deprived days. Let's say it's your heavy day, and you planned on moving all of your numbers up, but you only got a few hours' sleep because you were up most of the night with a sick child. Switch to a light-day workout, and then, if you get your needed rest, do your heavy day at the next workout. If you're still dragging, do a medium day and put the heavy day at the end of your weekly program.

It's been my experience that endurance is affected far more than top-end strength when I don't get enough sleep, so on those days I skip my back-off sets and any beach work I had planned. I do them later in the week so my total load for the week stays the same. I've also found that when I'm tired, it's better to move through my routine quickly. If I dilly-dally, it makes me even more fatigued. On occasion I set up three stations and hurry through a circuit so I'm in and out of the gym in about half the time.

And I make damn sure I don't compound my problem by going to bed late again that night. Coming up short on sleep requirements for one night doesn't constitute a severe situation, but doing it for several nights in a row will stifle progress in the weight room in addition to bringing on health difficulties.

I also find it beneficial to load up on all the supplements I know boost my immune system after a poor night's sleep. I double up on vitamins C, E, A and D to keep the odds in my favor.

It's easy to tell if you didn't get enough sleep when it happens occasionally, but what happens on the other nights? How can you determine if you're getting enough sleep consistently? By paying attention to how you feel when you climb out of bed in the morning. If you drag out of bed and feel like death warmed over all day, you aren't getting enough. On the other hand, if you're alert in the morning and perky throughout the day, you're on the right track.

A Gallup Poll showed that half the population experiences insomnia at some time. For most it's short-term, usually due to some form of stress, but even if it only lasts for three or four days, insomnia can wreck a good training program. So here are some suggestions. They're not new, but you don't want to overlook them.

My personal favorite is to take a couple of calcium-and-magnesium tablets with milk about 30 minutes before I go to bed. Magnesium is often referred to as "nature's own tranquilizer." It usually comes combined with calcium, so make sure the cal-mag tablet you use has the minerals in the correct ratio or they won't be nearly as effective. There should be twice as much calcium as magnesium. I also take a gram of vitamin C because I know it aids in the rebuilding process while I sleep and it promotes dreaming, which I like.

While I'm waiting for the cal-mag to take effect, I watch country music videos, as they help me relax and take my mind off what I've been working on. That's my sleep ritual, and the act of following the same routine every night is yet another thing that helps me go to sleep. Everyone needs to find a pattern that works for him or her and then stick with it.

Some people read to help them relax. Others take long showers or soak in the tub. Some like to listen to music or a rhythmic sound, such as a fan. Many prefer homeopathic remedies, such as Calms Forte and Quietude. Chamomile tea and sleep-promoting herbs like kava kava, amber, Polygala and ginseng are used by thousands.

A light snack can be useful in promoting a more relaxed state, but it's smart to select foods that contain the amino acid tryptophan, which converts to serotonin in the brain, helping you to feel drowsy. Milk, yogurt, cheese, turkey and fish contain tryptophan.

Now here are some things you should not do if you want to have a good night's sleep. Don't overindulge in alcohol. A little is all right; a lot is not. Too much alcohol before bedtime interferes with REM sleep, and that's the refreshing part. The same goes for food. Eating a large meal before bedtime isn't conducive to going to sleep because the food will trigger various systems, including the heart, to work harder. Also, the digestive tract may become upset and disrupt sleep even more.

Avoid stimulants such as caffeine and nicotine. While you're aware that there's caffeine in coffee, tea and soft drinks, you may not know that it's also in products such as Anacin, Dristan, Empirin, Excedrin and Midol.

A bit of light exercise, such as a short, leisurely walk, may be just the ticket to help you relax before bedtime, but any form of strenuous exercise or participating in a competitive sport will work against you. Vigorous physical activity stimulates the body, and it takes some time to calm you down.

Don't take your work to bed. If you make your bedroom an extension of your office, you're sure to carry business problems with you at night. Your bedroom should be a cool, dark, sleep chamber.

You may have to do some experimenting to find out what works for you. But if you're having trouble getting a solid night's rest on a regular basis, make some changes in your lifestyle, quickly. The "magical one-third of your life" is a critical variable in your quest to gain strength.
 
and one more... Good stuff guys, and great job on the posts!



Let's face it.. sleep is necessary for life!

Better yet, sleep has an increased rate of anabolism (the synthesis of cell structures), and a decreased rate of catabolism (the breakdown of cell structures).

What this means to you is more muscle.

Have you heard the term, "You don't grow in the gym, you grow out of the gym." Well sleep is part of that. It's not just recovery but it's when your muscles repair themselves.

:: Stages of Sleep ::

Currently, scientists divide sleep into two general types: REM (Rapid Eye Movement) and NREM (non-REM).

And within those types, there are 5 defined stages of sleep referred to as Stages 1 thru 5.

Did you know that Non-REM (Stage 1-4 sleep) accounts for 75-80% of total sleep time? it's also in those stages that your body repairs itself and it's when the real growth occurs.

:: Optimal Sleep Amounts ::

An American study linked life spans with sleep amount and found that those who sleep 4 to 7 hours live the longest, with those sleeping less than 4 or more than 9 hours living shorter lives[1]. The National Sleep Foundation however maintains that 8 hours of sleep is optimal, claiming improved performance in tests, reduced risk of accidents and a better immune system. It is important to mention this does not apply to children and adolescents, particularly children who require as much as 13 hours a night.

:: Importance of Optimal Sleep ::

First, some theories of sleep describe sleep as a dynamic time of healing and growth for organisms. For example, during stages 3 and 4, or slow-wave sleep, growth hormone levels increase, and changes in immune function occur.

Non-REM sleep may be an anabolic state marked by physiological processes of growth and rejuvenation of the organism's immune, nervous, muscular, and skeletal systems.

But what happens if you don't get enough sleep?

:: Lack of Sleep ::

This is a list of potential problems associated with a lack of sleep or sleep deprivation.

irritability hernia nausea Decreased ability for the immune system to fight off sickness Weight gain increased blood pressure Aching muscles Faster aging Slowed reaction time dizziness

For all those reasons, you can see that getting enough sleep is EXTREMELY important to your goals of muscle building and fat loss. A lack of sleep can really put a lid on your progress.

Short bouts of sleep deprivation probably won't stifle your gains but long term sleep problems can certainly curtail your progress.

While there is not single number that works for every single person, generally 4-7 hours should be enough for most people under most conditions to build muscle and burn fat.

It's true that some people need more and some people need less.

:: Sleep Tips for Getting the Rest You Need ::

Here's just a few tips for healthy and restful sleep.

Sleep only when sleepy - There's no reason to go to sleep or attempt to sleep if you aren't tired.

If you cannot fall asleep within 20 minutes, get up until you are tired and try again. Don't lie awake for hours.

Nap no more than 20 minutes and certainly not too late in the day as it will interfere with going to sleep later.

Get up and go to bed at the same time every day. This includes weekends. Establish a sleep routine and stick with it.

Refrain from exercising 4 hours before your regular bedtime. You can do morning workouts and late afternoon but if you workout too close to bed time, you've essentially just woken yourself up. It will be harder to go to sleep quickly if you've just got your blood flowing.

Develop sleep rituals. Many parents try and calm their children down 20 minutes or more before bed. This establishes a relaxation time frame before sleeping. Whatever you can do to relax before going to bed.

Only use your bed for sleeping.

Stay away from stimulates 4-6 hours before bed. That includes alcohol, nicotine and caffeine....

I hope this is sufficient to the requirements of the contest...

Get rest, get pumped!
 
When someone mentions the "colorado experiment".........Sleep is the last thing I ever think of. :p
Your posts has a sentence about Casey ans sleep-
I don't get it. :confused:
It was more than just Casey Viator....
From IronMan , September 1973, Volume 32 Number 6

The following is a brief, preliminary report of an experiment conducted at Colorado State University in May of 1973.

LOCATION . . . Department of Physical Education, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado.

SUPERVISION . . . Dr. Elliott Plese, Director of Exercise Physiology Lab., Colorado State University.

DATES ... May 1, 1973 through May 29, 1973 for one subject (Casey Viator), an elapsed period of 28 days . . . and May 23, 1973 for the second subject (Arthur Jones), an elapsed period of 22 days.

LEAN BODY-MASS and FAT CONTENTS determinations for both subjects were produced by the WHOLE BODY COUNTER under the supervision of James E. Johnson, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Radiology and Radiation Biology, Colorado State University.

PURPOSE of the EXPERIMENT . . . it is the author's contention that the growth of human muscular tissue is related to the intensity of exercise; increases in strength and muscle-mass are rapidly produced by very brief and infrequent training ... if the intensity of exercise is high enough.

It is the author's second contention that increasing the amount of training is neither necessary nor desirable . . . on the contrary, a large amount of high intensity training will actually reduce the production of strength and muscle mass increases.

It is the author's third contention that "negative work" (eccentric contraction) is one of the most important factors involved in exercise performed for the purpose of increasing strength and muscle-mass.

It is the author's fourth contention that nothing in the way of a special diet is required . . . so long as a reasonably well-balanced diet is provided.

It is the author's fifth contention that the use of the so-called "growth drugs" (steroids) is neither necessary nor desirable ... on the contrary, repeated tests with animals and double-blind tests with human subjects have clearly demonstrated that the use of such drugs is strongly contraindicated.

It is the author's sixth contention that maximum-possible increases in strength and muscle-mass can be produced only by the use of full range, rotary form, automatically variable, direct resistance.

FULL-RANGE resistance is provided only when the involved body-part is moved through a full range of possible movement against constant resistance . . . from a starting position of full muscular extension (a "prestretched" position) to a finishing position of full muscular contraction.

ROTARY-FORM resistance is an absolute requirement for full-range exercise ... since muscular contraction produces a rotary-form movement of the related body-part, it is necessary for the resistance and the body-part to rotate on a common axis.

AUTOMATICALLY VARIABLE resistance is an absolute requirement for high-intensity exercise . . . since movement produces changes in usable strength, it is necessary for the resistance to vary in proportion to the resulting changes in strength.

DIRECT resistance is also required in order to avoid the limitations imposed by the involvement of smaller, weaker, muscular structures. The resistance must be "directly" imposed against the body-part moved by the muscles being exercised.

Conventional forms of exercise provide none of these requirements; the results being that . . . muscles are not worked throughout a full range of possible movement . . . resistance is limited to an amount that can be moved in the weakest position . . . little or nothing is done in the way of improving flexibility, since there is no resistance in the fully extended position . . . and no resistance is provided in the fully contracted position.

Only Nautilus equipment was used in the Colorado Experiment; equipment designed to provide all of the requirements for full range, rotary form, automatically variable, direct resistance.

RESULTS . .
First subject (Casey Viator), 28 days
Increase in bodyweight........45.28 pounds
Loss of bodyfat..............17.93 pounds
Muscular gain.................63.21 pounds

Second subject (Arthur Jones),22 days
Increase in bodyweight .......13.62 pounds
Loss of bodyfat...............1.82 pounds
Muscular gain.................15.44 pounds

It should be clearly understood that neither of the subjects was an "average" subject, and there is no implication that subjects of average or below average potential will all produce equal results from a similar program of exercises.

Casey Viator has trained on a fairly regular basis for a period of several years; with barbells and other conventional training equipment until June of 1970, at which point he placed third in the Mr. America contest . . . and with both barbells and Nautilus equipment until June of 1971, when he won the Mr. America contest.

From September of 1971 until September of 1972, he trained primarily with Nautilus equipment . . . with limited use of a barbell, primarily the performance of barbell squats.

From September of 1972 until December 23, 1972, he trained exelusively with Nautilus equipment . . . limiting his exercises to "negative only" movements. At the end of that period of training he weighed 200.5 pounds.

In early January of 1973, he was involved in a serious accident at work and lost most of one finger as a result . . . and almost died from an allergic reaction to an antitetanus injection.

For approximately four months, most of January through April of 1973, he did not train at all; and since his level of activity was low, his diet was reduced accordingly. During that period of four months, he lost approximately 33.63 pounds . . . but 18.75 pounds were lost as a direct result of the accident and the near-fatal injection. So his loss from nearly four months out of training was only 14.88 pounds ... less than a pound a week.

The second subject (the author, Arthur Jones) has trained on a very irregular basis for a period of thirty four years ... and reached a muscular bodyweight of 205 pounds at one time, nineteen years ago.

The author did no training of any kind for a period of approximately four years until late November of 1972 ... and then trained on a fairly regular basis in the "negative only" fashion for a period of approximately six weeks. Training was ceased entirely in early January of 1973 ... and no training was done again until the start of the Colorado Experiment.

The author's bodyweight has varied from approximately 145 to 160 or the last ten years . . . briefly reaching a level of 190 at the end of approximately six months of steady training that was concluded four years prior to the start of the Colorado Experiment.

So both of the subjects have demonstrated the potential for greater than average muscular mass . . . and both subjects were rebuilding previously existing levels of muscular size.

A certain percentage of a group of random sabjects would undoubtedly produce equal results . . . a very low percentage might produce better results . . . a few subjects would produce little or nothing in the way of results . . . but average results would probably be less than those produced by the two subjects in this experiment. The primary determining letters being (1) individual potential for muscular size, (2) age, (3) general health, and (4) the intensity devoted to the training.

Actually high-intensity training is not easy . . . the training sessions are brief, indeed must be brief, but there is an apparently natural inclination on the part of most subjects to hold back." Most exercises are terminated at a point well below an actual point of muscular failure . . . then, in an effort to compensate for the reduction intensity, the usual practice is to add more exercise to the program.

However, in fact, no amount of additional exercise will compensate for a reduction in the intensity of exercise ... and if carried to extremes, which such training frequently is, the subject may actually prevent growth by exceeding the recovery ability of the system.

As stated previously, it is the author's contention that very rapid and large scale increases will be produced in strength and muscular mass by a brief program of high-intensity exercise; and it was the purpose of this experiment to demonstrate that such results can be produced in practice as well as in theory.

At the moment. in athletic training circles, it is well accepted that supplemental strength training can be of very great value to athletes involved in any sport. But in practice, a seemingly natural inclination to equate "more" with "better" is actually preventing athletes from producing the results that could be produced.

Many coaches avoid supplemental strength training because they "don't have time" . . . but in fact, very little time is required; if the exercises used are high-intensity exercises properly performed. Nor is it the author's contention that using the proper equipment is the entire answer in itself. . .on the contrary, good results can be produced with a barbell or with conventional training such as the Universal Machine, or with any equipment that does both negative and positive work. The demonstrated superiority of Nautilus equipment will be largely wasted if the equipment is improperly used . . . Nautilus equipment is designed to provide a level of intensity that is impossible in any other fashion, but it must be used properly in order to produce maximumpossible results.

Proper training will produce rapid but very steady increases in both strength and muscular mass . . . and this was demonstrated very clearly by the results of the Colorado Experiment.

For example, during the first l4 days, Viator gained 28.93 pounds, a daily average of 2.06 pounds. During the next 3 days, he gained 3.92 pounds, a daily average of 1.3 pounds. During the following 5 days, he gained 6.09 pounds, a daily average of 1.2 pounds. And during the final 6 days, he gained 6.34 Pounds, a daily average of 1.05 pounds.

So it is clear that his "rate of gaining was slowing down at the end of the experiment . . . but it is equally clear that his actual growth was very steady.

In the author's case. the pattern was much the same. During the first 7 days, 4.08 pounds were gained, a daily average of .58 pounds. During the next 7 days, 4.95 pounds were gained, a daily average of .7 pounds. And during the final 8 days, 4.6 pounds were gained, a daily average of .57 pounds.

There were no "sudden spurts" of growth in either case...so we obviously were not putting back weight lost from dehydration; instead growth was very steady throughout the periods of training.

During a period of 22 days, the author trained a total of 12 times. Three workouts in a row during the first three days in order to quickly get over any resulting muscular soreness, then workouts spaced approximately 48 hours apart.

Total "training time" (in and out of the gym) was exactly 298 minutes...4 hours and 58 minutes, an average of 24.8 minutes per workout.

122 "sets" were performed during the 12 workouts . . . an average of just over 10 sets per workout.

Out of the total of 122 sets, 54 were performed in a "negative only" fashion . . . 14 were performed in a "negative accentuated" fashion . . . and 54 were performed in a normal (negativepositive) style.

NEGATIVE ONLY means that the resistance was "lowered" only, involving eccentric contraction.

NEGATIVE ACCENTUATED means that the resistance was raised with both arms (or both legs), and then lowered with only one arm or leg.

NORMAL means that the resistance was raised with both arms (or legs) and lowered in the same fashion.

Only one "set" of each exercise was performed in almost all workouts, and when two sets of an exercise were performed they were never performed in sequence.

When two sets of any particular exercise were performed, they were done at different points in a workout . . . and were done for different reasons. For example: a type of "dipping" exercise was sometimes performed for two different purposes . . . this exercise would be used immediately following a direct triceps exercise in order to involve the chest muscles for the purpose of working the already preexhausted triceps muscles to an even higher level of intensity ... then, at another point in the workout, an almost exactly opposite purpose was served when the same exercise was used in order to provide an even higher intensity of work for the previously preexhausted chest muscles.

While the above paragraph may be rather confusing at first glance, this style of training is actually quite simple . . . as the following example will show.

When worked to a point of momentary failure against direct and isolated resistance imposed only against the triceps, the triceps can be forced to continue to a point of even greater intensity if a second exercise is performed immediately after the first exercise.

But the second exercise must bring into use other muscular structures that make it possible for the triceps to continue.

So we first worked the triceps in a direct exercise, to a point of failure ... and then immediately performed a second exercise, a "dipping" type of movement with variable resistance, The second exercise (the dipping movements) also involved the chest muscles . . . which permitted the triceps to be worked far beyond a normal point of failure.

Thus, in that case, the dipping exercise was performed for the purpose of totally exhausting the triceps.

But at another point in the workout, the same dipping exercise was used to totally exhaust the chest muscles. In this case, the chest was worked first ... to a point of failure, then the dipping exercise was performed immediately afterwards, bringing the strength of the triceps into use in order to permit the chest muscles to be worked beyond a normal point of failure.

However, in general, we performed only one set of each exercise during each workout, the author's gains from this very brief program were as follow . . . an average of 1.28 pounds per workout ... an average of .126 pounds per set ... an average of 3.06 pounds per hour of training.

The other, much younger, subject's gains were much greater. During a period of 28 days, as a result of 14 workouts involving a total training-time of 7 hours, 50 minutes, an average of 33.6 minutes per workout, his gains were as follow . . . an average muscle mass increase of 4.51 pounds per workout . . . or .36 pounds per set . . .an average gain of 8.04 pounds from each hour of training.

But what about strength gains?

Prior to the start of the experiment (approximately an hour before the first workout), initial strength tests to a point of failure were performed on a Universal Machine. And at the end of the experiment (three days after the last workout), a final strength test was again performed on a Universal Machine.

During the first test, Viator performed 32 repetitions in the leg-press with 400 pounds . . . 28 days later, having done nothing even close to a leg-press in the meantime, he performed 45 repetitions with 840 pounds. And was forced to quit at that point because of pain, rather than muscular failure.

So his leg-strength more than doubled in the leg-press . . . even though he did not perform that exercise during the experiment. His other strength increases were of a very high order . . . clearly proving that his increased muscular mass was functional.

Flexibility? Near the end of the experiment, at a bodyweight well over 200 pounds, this subject clearly demonstrated a range of movement far in excess of that possible by any member of the Colorado State University wrestling team. In fact, his demonstrated range of movement is so far in excess of "average" range of movement that it literally must be seen to be appreciated . . . clearly proving that great muscular size does not have to limit flexibility, if it is produced by exercises that provide full-range movement.

The "pace" of the workouts was very fast . . . but not continuous throughout the workouts, some brief rest-periods were involved between some exercises. And these rest-periods are INCLUDED in the listed times of the workouts. Times were measured from the start of the workouts to the end of the workouts.

All exercises were carried to a point of momentary failure . . . except in the cases of "negative only" exercises, which were terminated when it was no longer possible to control the downwards movement of the resistance.

In general, approximately ten repetitions were performed in each set; but in all cases, the maximum possible number of repetitions were performed . . . stopping only when it was impossible to perform another repetition in good form.

The "form" or style of performance was as strict as possible, the resistance was moved in a smooth fashion, and was briefly stopped in the position of full muscular contraction. Jerking and sudden movements were totally avoided.

Several members of the Denver Broncos Professional Football Team visited the lab for the purpose of observing the workouts, and then started training in an identical fashion during the last two weeks of the experiment . . . after the experiment, the Broncos placed an order for several Nautilus machines and drastically reduced their previous training schedule.

And while we were training in Colorado, members of several other professional football teams were training at our facility in Florida. . . in an identical fashion, three brief weekly workouts involving only one set of approximately a dozen exercises, with as much emphasis on the "negative" part of the work as possible.

Results?

One member of a Canadian professional team became so strong in the pullover exercise that he was using 675 pounds for several repetitions in good form . . . having started two months earlier with 275 pounds.

Lou Ross of the Buffalo Bills added 20 Pounds to his 6 foot, 7 inch frame ... cut a full two-tenths from his already fast time in the 40 yard dash ... added five and one-half inches to his high jump ... and doubled his strength in many areas of movement. These figures having been provided by the Buffalo Bills coaching staff, who tested Lou before and after a two month Nautilus training program in Florida.

Mercury Morris of the World Champion Dolphins weighed-in 7 pounds above his previous highest weight and still ran the fastest 40 yards of his life when he was tested . . . following two months of Nautilus high-intensity training.

Dick Butkus of the Chicago Bears visited us in Colorado during the experiment, trained with us several days there . . . and then trained on Nautilus equipment in Deland for a month before reporting to training camp and signing a five-year contract with the Bears.

All together, twelve professional football teams and hundreds of professional athletes are now training with Nautilus equipment . . . having learned that they can produce far better results from much less training.

But I repeat ... the secret, if there is one, is HIGH-INTENSITY; and when you are actually training with high intensity, you don't need a large amount of training.
 
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Really cool experiment but a little deceiving as well.

Tell me about it.. A little excessive if you ask me. But hey, it very well could have taken place!
 
Great info on sleep. I've read most of it before but it's a terrific reminder of what matters

Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk
 

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