Middle-of-the-night protein shake?

[td1111]

I woke up famished at 4 am the other night and gulped down a nice shake, and was slightly hungry when I woke up at 8. This morning I didn't and was extremely famished/voraciously hungry when I got up in the morning. I think my body is in overdrive right now, on Primo, Eq, Var, T4, HGH, IGF, and really intense lifting.

Seems like a good idea to avoid the nightly fast and have a 50gr whey shake in the middle of the night. Any of you guys do this?

 

[jay_dub]

I do it but I never knew if it was the best idea or not.

 

[oldfella]

I personally do not think it is a bad idea. As long as the shake has little to no carbs then yes! But sometimes the unsatiable hunger is really dehydration, here's what you can try. The next time you wake up starving drink a litre of water then go back to bed. See how you feel in the am. But even in the am if you are not hungry put some food down anyway or go for a 30-40 minute walk then eat.

 

[Ironmanpits]

???

Cant hurt but I have read opinions from knowledgeable bodybuilders who believe uninterrupted sleep is more beneficial. Maybe some pro's will post an opinion on this.

 

[BigBro]

Seems like a good idea to avoid the nightly fast and have a 50gr whey shake in the middle of the night. Any of you guys do this?

I use to do this ALL THE TIME bro and got great results! I don’t like going 8,9,10 hours of sleep with nothing in my system...

 

[UglyDucklingSyndrome]

Seems like I remember a Jay Cutler interview where he said thats a part of his new routine, to have a shake in the middle of the night. It was one of those interviews asking how sick he is of always losing to Coleman, a couple years back. The theory behind it is you keep your metabolism and body working for you rather than letting your body shut down like it normally does when you sleep for long periods of time.

 

[Matte220]

I see no problems w/ eating in the middle of the night especially if trying to get larger.

 

[maldorf]

Cant hurt but I have read opinions from knowledgeable bodybuilders who believe uninterrupted sleep is more beneficial. Maybe some pro's will post an opinion on this.

Bump. i am wondering the same thing.

 

[td1111]

Bump. i am wondering the same thing.

I would guess that as long as the food is very easy to digest (i.e. pure whey isolate with water only) it shouldn't really affect sleep recovery.

 

[Queefer]

It's a great idea. I go to bed at midnight and drink one shake at 3am and another at 6am. Then I drink one at 9am for breakfast. The nighttime is when you grow and your body NEEDS protein.

 

[spyder]

you ought to look into Micellar Casein Protein, it digests slowly like over 6 or so hours. good stuff to take right before you go to bed, then you don't have to get up to eat in the middle of the night. good stuff

 

[BULK_CITY]

from what I've read

if you wake up naturally (to piss or whatever) having a small protein only shake can be beneficial

if you don't (ie- you have to set an alarm) then don't bother waking up to take a shake... just eat when you wake up

 

[wb77black]

supposedly from what i've read breaking up your sleep is a bad thing what i do is take the casein protein before bed it is suppose to digest slowly so your body can feed for up to seven hours

 

[Iron Liberty]

I always like to go for a 1/2 cup to a cup of lowfat cottage cheese and maybe a scoop of whey before bed. Seems to work fine for me

 

[worldspan]

supposedly from what i've read breaking up your sleep is a bad thing what i do is take the casein protein before bed it is suppose to digest slowly so your body can feed for up to seven hours

When you get old enough you are getting up several times a night to take a leak anyway so no harm in downing a cassein protein shake during one of those times.

Worldspan

 

[jef]

i'm not sure how much longer casein protein stays in your system than whey but i think it's about 4 times longer. once i'm done dieting for a show, i will go back to doing that as a maintenance eating program and putting a couple scoops of casein down in the middle of the night.

 

[saguakid]

I always like to go for a 1/2 cup to a cup of lowfat cottage cheese and maybe a scoop of whey before bed. Seems to work fine for me

bump on this,cottage cheese is the best source of casein,if you have it before bed you dont need to worry til the next day,since will be digest slowly and provide aminos for 7 hrs,1 cup has 32 grams of protein and look for the no salt added version since sometime is too high in sodium and 1 % lowfat,only 160 calories of pure protein,if you're trying to gat larger then have a shake with micellar casein,but if you're in calorie restriction sleep and weight tilthe next day,dont put extra calories in your body and dont sacrifice hrs of sleeping

 

[Equalizer]

I remember reading when actress Hillary Swank was training to put on muscle for her role in Million Dollar Baby her trainer had her drink a protein shake in the middle of the night. She supposedly put on 20lbs. of muscle. Don't know if that had anything to do with it or not?

 

[td1111]

I'm really liking this idea, and have decided to keep doing this throughout my current cycle. Running Primo,Eq,Var,HGH,IGF,T4 all together, my body is in major overdrive, and just like a turbo car, needs more gas! For a natty builder, it's probably not a big deal.

Even with my 4am shake, I'm still quite hungry in the morning, just not voracious. My shakes are a blend of whey and casien.

*Another thing that I've read, is that if the body has to expend a lot of energy digesting at night, it can compromise sleep quality, hence the old saying that you shouldn't eat a big meal before bed. Since casien is meant for cows, and is harder to digest for us, perhaps a shake that is the easiest to digest is the best idea for the 4am shake? Which is the easiest to digest? Whey isolate?

 

[thebrick]

I always wake up around 2 or 3 AM to take a pee anyway, so I will drink about 8 oz of water and a couple of tablespoons of LBAs. Quick, easy and I go right back to bed.