✓ Member
Temperature affects me big time when I sleep. To exacerbate this foible, I train in my (non-climate-controlled) garage, and since the weather's been pretty warm lately, it's sweltering when I get under the bar at 5pm. I long for the day when we move to Alaska or blow up the sun, whichever comes first.
To remedy:
- I take a coolish shower right afterward, set the a/c to cool off the condo (74 deg F does it) at least an hour before bed, have a fan blasting me when I do dishes (in the hot water), and I'll still take some acetaminophen an hour before bed to make sure I'm nice and chill. Ibuprofen for when I'm feeling particularly beat up. Ceiling fan on to keep air moving no matter what time of year.
- We recently got some bamboo sheets off the amazon (the cheaper ones), and I find that those feel better on the skin compared to cotton. Sometimes cotton will make me bust out in a cold sweat (a la James Brown), so I'd have to wear a light tee-shirt, which can be annoying. Not so w/ the bamboo/shirtless combo (so far).
Other tips:
- In the past, I've done the Tylenol PM, but that usually makes me groggy in the mornings.
- I've tried 3mg of melatonin (Nature Made from the walmart (or your Norwegian equivalent.. Vawl-mart?) the last couple nights, and it seems to work well. Wife-y notes that a side-effect is decreased sex drive. Challenge accepted!
- I love my white noise when I sleep, so I have a fan blasting right by my head (away from it so you don't get all messed up in the ENT/upper respiratory). Honestly, I've found that the louder the better!
- Light blocking blinds and curtains, but they're both white so light still creeps in and wakes me up when that horrible sun comes up, so I have a sleep mask (amazon) on standby to milk an extra hour or so.
- If I don't fall asleep right away, I find it's best to go back out to the living room/kitchen (i.e. not your bedroom) and read a book or kindle (i.e. not laptop or tv) for a bit before going back in. The "fixing problems" section of the Power Clean chapter in SSBBT works... *yawn* ... pretty good for ... *yawn* ... fuck, what was I saying?
- The wife (god, listen to me.) is off for the summer so goes to bed a little later than I do. I changed out the light bulb on her lamp to a red light bulb (Vawl-mart) so I can shut my eyelids and not get any ambient light coming through. It also looks like a whore house, so... win-win! POINT IS... keep that white and blue light to a minimum before and during bedtime.
Other nighttime annoyances:
- I too find myself needing to pee around 2am most nights. I don't know if this can be avoided while staying properly hydrated for training. My buddy who's a former marine said they used to make you chug 2 canteens of water right before lights out. I'd probably be peeing every 2 hours. Also, I SIT DOWN WHEN I PEE AT NIGHT YEAH I SAID IT, so I don't pass out and headbutt the kleenex box (it's happened). Perhaps the position will keep you relaxed so you can crawl right back into bed without rocking your CNS too much.
- My arms like to fall asleep lately, and I think this is directly related to benching and chin-ups stressing my arms/shoulders. So, I make sure they're in a good, anatomic position when I lie down.
If you think you're really stressed by the police episode, you might need to meditate for 20 minutes an hour before bed. Let that shit go. If you think you have an underlying issue with people coming in and disturbing you or breaking into your house while you sleep, get some door jam alarms (GE makes them, amazon). Set them, trust them, sleep like a baby.
I'd also venture to posit that training consistently would allow your body to acclimate going to bed/sleep in a post-workout state, so stick with it!
Looking at pictures of people yawning helps too. Good luck!
Member
I haven't posted here in years, but I didn't know other people get this problem. I could never sleep the night after TM volume day. My training is organized differently now, but my heavy squat/deadlift day always brings the same phenomenon. I've trained in the morning for a couple years now, for what it's worth.
Just thought I'd throw it out there that this affects other people. You know, for science.
Science data: 33 YO male. BW 215. 455 squat. 375 bench. 520 deadlift.
Member
A few questions for OP:
1. Are you striving for 7-9 hours of sleep every night, regardless of training?
2. On days you don't train, are you drinking beers or other intoxicants that would make one sleepy?
✓ Member
Hypothyroid generally causes hypersomnia, but is not really anywhere near the top of the differential. Periodic limb movement disorder, anxiety, depression, sleep apnea, circadian rhythm issues, etc. can all cause insomnia. Additionally, over half of people report occasional insomnia. I'm not so sure that we really should be sleeping 7-8 hours every night.Originally Posted by Hyperfluxe
Member
Bump, having the same problem. The heat isn't helping. Yesterday i slept from 11pm to 2am. Got up angry and drank a beer and a scotch and some melatonin at 4am but it didnt help much. Slept from 5 to 8 afterwards. It's really stressing me out. When i lay in bed i get all sorts of very vivid thoughts running through my mind. I feel so alert. Even the faint crackling of the AC startles me. Could be partially due to resistant stretch that i take which dramatically improves dream vividness.
✓ Member
Resistant starch, Carnivroar?
Member
yeah that's what I meant
Member
This might sound like bullshit but honestly ever since I read Bill Starrs book Defying Gravity and started meditating (3 weeks ago) and controlling my breathing I have been managing to sleep like a baby and have been managing so well with this 2nd cycle of Texas Method meanwhile before I used to only sleep 5-6 hours after my volume days.
Other thing that used to help me loads is just have a nice masturbation session before sleep, however ever since the mediation didn't need to masturbate as much.
✓ Member
Do you think resistant starch causes dream "vividness"?
This board never ceases to amaze me....
Member
My issue is unrefreshing sleep, I constantly feel tired and don't get deep restful sleep. I'll go see a sleep doctor and have an overnight study soon to check for PLMD/RLS. I don't think I have apnea since I'm 75kg. My TSH (thyroid) is getting close to 2.0 so that should be taken care of, but I'll know my free T4/T3 levels in 5 weeks and might start adding T3 as well to my medication. Whatever comorbidities that I have (depression, anxiety, etc) are likely due to my unrefreshing sleep (I think!). What else can you think of Mr. Feigenbaum? Maybe cortisol issues, such as a misallignment with your circardian rhythm? I do my best with sleep hygiene. Go some sick blue light blockers for the night, black out curtains, eyemask, low dose melatonin, earplugs, adequate thermal comfort (65F), I use a brigh light device in the AM, take magnesium too (I'm no longer deficient).
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