main take-aways
1. When sleep suffers, almost everything else suffers.
2. Sleep deprivation can hinder both fat loss and muscle gain.
3. The practices in this article are easy to apply and effective. Please remember that supplements can help, but they can’t replace basic practices like going to bed and waking up at the same time every day. Usually, it’s the basics that do the most!
Whether you have physical, health, or performance-related goals, sleep is the glue that holds everything health and fitness together.
When your sleep cycle suffers, everything else suffers. On the other hand, when you get more quality sleep, everything else gets better!
In this article, you’ll learn about the most impactful sleep habits for battling sleep deprivation, how the circadian rhythm works, and how it impacts every aspect of your health and fitness journey.
Promise me you’ll take your time to read the whole blog – don’t just skim through it. Because if there’s one thing you can do to get better results, it’s to make sleep optimization your top priority!
Why avoid sleep deprivation at all costs
Sleep is your way to recharge, both physically and mentally. It’s when you produce hormones, heal and repair.
Most processes in your body run on their own body clocks, and your body thrives on a solid circadian rhythm.
Sleep deprivation can increase the risk of weight gain and obesity, insulin resistance and diabetes, and heart disease, and impacts your:
- Immune system
- Hormone production and balance (e.g.,
- Testosterone ↓, Leptin↓, Ghrelin ↑)
- Cognitive performance (brain function)
- Decision making
- Performance
- Recovery
- Energy levels
- And much more…
Long story short: When sleep suffers, everything else suffers.
How Sleep Deprivation Impacts Physical Goals
Sleep deprivation negatively affects both fat loss and muscle growth (see image below).
This 2010 study (2) compared two groups in an equal caloric deficit. One group spent 8.5 hours in bed per night, the other 5.5 hours.
Even though both groups lost an equal amount of total weight, the sleep-restricted group lost more lean mass and less fat mass.
The sleep-restricted group also experienced increased hunger and showed a more significant decrease in resting metabolic rate.
Sleep is also essential for muscle protein synthesis (aka muscle growth). A more recent study (3) found that acute sleep deprivation seems to decrease muscle protein synthesis and promote a more ‘catabolic hormonal environment,’ meaning more favoring breaking down tissue rather than building it up (anabolic).
Understanding circadian rhythm, cortisol & melatonin
Hormones are chemical ‘messengers’ that act on tissues throughout the body. While there are many different hormones, let’s focus on the two primary hormones related to your circadian rhythm.
Cortisol: Often called the ‘stress hormone.’
Melatonin: The hormone that prepares your body to get ready to sleep.
Typically – and this goes for an otherwise healthy individual who isn’t overly stressed all day – Cortisol and Melatonin go through opposite cycles.
Cortisol peaks in the morning and then gradually decreases throughout the day.
In the afternoon, Melatonin starts to creep up and increases as it gets darker.
Late at night, Melatonin starts to decrease, Cortisol rises again, you wake up in the morning, and the cycle repeats.
Cortisol needs to decrease for Melatonin to increase (see image below).
So when stress (Cortisol) is high, it will be difficult to fall asleep, as melatonin production can not happen. Any form of stress can lead to an increase in Cortisol and put you in a sympathetic (also called fight/flight) state. That includes intense exercises, so watch those evening workouts!
To that last point, please know that regular exercise is still better than no exercise. So, if you can only do your training in the evening, go for it! Just see it as a reason to wind down properly.
Keep reading to discover what you can do to avoid sleep deprivation and how to wind down and get your body back into ‘rest and digest’ for optimal sleep.
Four Fundamental Habits for More Quality Sleep
Just as you can’t keep using your phone without charging it, you can only push it so far until your body says, “That’s enough!”
You probably have a good idea of what drains your batteries, and it can be quite a bit sometimes…
Let’s try to do more things that recharge your batteries and create the perfect environment for a healthy sleep cycle.
Warning: The following sleep habits may sound obvious, but they are effective.
Keep it dark
Make your bedroom as dark as possible. Invest in blackout curtains or wear a sleep mask when needed. Blue light – which comes from both the sun and phones, TVs, etc. – blunts melatonin production (4). So, try to minimize or eliminate screen use before going to bed. Consider wearing blue light-blocking glasses When you need or choose to use technology.
Keep It Cold
Higher temperatures can keep you from falling asleep and negatively affect sleep quality (5). Conversely, a lower core body temperature seems to positively affect both sleep latency (how long it takes you to fall asleep) and deeper stages of sleep (6).
Keep your sleep environment nice and cold. This can be as simple as keeping a window open for fresh, cold air, getting a fan, or investing in a cooling pad for your mattress.
Keep It Quiet
Besides the obvious fact that noise can keep you up, sleep quality also seems to be affected by noise (7). Of course, you can’t turn down the volume of traffic or people in the streets. But if noise is an issue, consider wearing earplugs or using a white noise machine – a fan has a similar effect – to wash out some of that noise.
Bonus tip: turn those annoying phone notifications off!
Caffeine And Alcohol
Yes, we’re going to talk about those two things you might hold dear: caffeine and alcohol. Sorry! Both affect sleep significantly, so I have to mention them.
First, caffeine can keep you from falling asleep. Even for the experienced drinker who has zero problems falling asleep after consuming caffeine, it can still impact sleep quality. Cutting caffeine consumption at least 6 hours before bedtime is recommended (8).
Second, even though alcohol has more of a relaxing effect and is often consumed in the evening, it can be a good idea to lower intake towards the end of the evening, as it also seems to impact sleep quality (9,10).
>>> Want a free tool for tracking your sleep habits? Click here to download your FREE Habit Tracker.
Sleep Routines & Rituals - Wake Up With More Energy
Before getting super specific, start off by consistently going to bed and waking up at the same time (within about a 30-minute window) every day to support your circadian rhythm.
That goes for both week and weekend days.
Once that’s taken care of, you can expand your morning and bedtime routines. As you do so, I highly suggest tracking your sleep with a wearable like a Fitbit, Whoop, or Oura ring.
Tracking your sleep can help you pinpoint what does and doesn’t help you sleep more and better.
How to create your own perfect bedtime and morning routines:
- Start with the amount of actual sleep you’re aiming to get. Because losing some sleep is normal, add 1 hour to find out your ‘time in bed’ goal.
- Next, consider when to wake up and how much time you want to give yourself in the morning (30-60 minutes?).
- Subtract your time in bed to find out when you want to be asleep.
- Lastly, decide how much time you want to spend winding down and what you want to do. Consider practices like reading, meditation, breath work, journaling, listening to music, podcasts, or sleepcasts.
- Start with the amount of actual sleep you’re aiming to get. Because losing some sleep is normal, add 1 hour to find out your ‘time in bed’ goal.
PRO tip: A morning walk may support melatonin production in the evening (11). If you can, consider morning walks to support a healthy sleep cycle and the fresh air, possible vitamin D, ‘me-time’, and the additional steps you’ll get in.
Bedtime Carbs For Better Sleep
Ever heard that you shouldn’t eat (carbs) in the evening?
Don’t worry, carbs, don’t look at the clock and go, “It’s 8PM! Time to get evil and make you fat!”.
Before we discuss why you might want to include a bedtime meal in your routine, let’s discuss another key hormone: insulin, so you understand how it works.
Insulin is an anabolic hormone that regulates the metabolism of nutrients, controls blood sugar levels, and more. It works counter-regulatory to Cortisol and can bring cortisol levels down.
When you eat carbohydrates, insulin increases.
So here’s the ‘trick’ to including bedtime carbs for better sleep: Eating carbs increases insulin levels, which decreases Cortisol, which allows for melatonin production.
The cortisol-blunting effect insulin has can also be a great reason to aim for a higher-carb approach when overall stress is high.
And remember we talked about evening workouts possibly keeping you up? A carb-heavy post-workout meal can help you return to that ‘rest and digest’ state we discussed.
*If you consider including a bedtime meal, give yourself at least 45-60 minutes to digest your food – preferably more.
Science-Based Supplements That may Improve Sleep
Changing your habits takes a lot more work than taking a sleep supplement, and in most cases, I’d recommend doing both.
But supplements aren’t going to help much without addressing your evenings, mornings, time in bed, and sleep consistency.
When you DO decide to try a supplement, look into quality brands with the right forms and dosing.
Below you’ll find some science-based supplements worth looking into.
You’ll also find links to Examine.com and some brands I’ve personally tried to help you make an educated decision. In any case, you’re likely best off starting with one.
As always, it is recommended that you talk to your doctor before taking any supplements. Do your research, and be critical of what you give your body!
- Melatonin (Consider supporting your own natural production first) – example
- Magnesium (A quality form like glycinate, bisglycinate, threonate,..) – example
- Glycine – example
- Valerian root – example
- Lavender – example
- L-theanine – example
“How to Battle Sleep Deprivation – Sleep Habits & Supplements”
Out of everything mentioned in this sleep cycle and habit deep dive, nothing beats creating a consistent sleep-wake schedule.
I’ve been playing around with different practices and supplements for years.
And as much as I’d love to give you the next ultimate sleep hack, there are no hacks or shortcuts.
It’s the basics, done consistently for long periods of time.
My personal favorite is reading a book for 30 minutes while my sunrise/sunset alarm clock makes my room darker and darker. So far, I haven’t found anything that beats it!
So, what will work best for YOU?
Try different things, track your data, and over-time you’ll find your best sleep habits and routines.
Just remember, basics first 😉
- Watson, Nathaniel F et al. “Recommended Amount of Sleep for a Healthy Adult: A Joint Consensus Statement of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and Sleep Research Society.” Sleep vol. 38,6 843-4. 1 Jun. 2015, doi:10.5665/sleep.4716
- Nedeltcheva, Arlet V et al. “Insufficient sleep undermines dietary efforts to reduce adiposity.” Annals of internal medicine vol. 153,7 (2010): 435-41. doi:10.7326/0003-4819-153-7-201010050-00006
- Lamon, Séverine et al. “The effect of acute sleep deprivation on skeletal muscle protein synthesis and the hormonal environment.” Physiological reports vol. 9,1 (2021): e14660. doi:10.14814/phy2.14660
- Bedrosian, T A, and R J Nelson. “Timing of light exposure affects mood and brain circuits.” Translational psychiatry vol. 7,1 e1017. 31 Jan. 2017, doi:10.1038/tp.2016.262
- Fujii, Hisako et al. “Fatigue and sleep under large summer temperature differences.” Environmental research vol. 138 (2015): 17-21. doi:10.1016/j.envres.2015.02.006
- Murphy, P J, and S S Campbell. “Nighttime drop in body temperature: a physiological trigger for sleep onset?.” Sleep vol. 20,7 (1997): 505-11. doi:10.1093/sleep/20.7.505
- Hume, Kenneth I et al. “Effects of environmental noise on sleep.” Noise & health vol. 14,61 (2012): 297-302. doi:10.4103/1463-1741.104897
- Drake, Christopher et al. “Caffeine effects on sleep taken 0, 3, or 6 hours before going to bed.” Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine vol. 9,11 1195-200. 15 Nov. 2013, doi:10.5664/jcsm.3170
- Park, Soon-Yeob et al. “The Effects of Alcohol on Quality of Sleep.” Korean journal of family medicine vol. 36,6 (2015): 294-9. doi:10.4082/kjfm.2015.36.6.294
- Zheng, Dandan et al. “Alcohol consumption and sleep quality: a community-based study.” Public health nutrition vol. 24,15 (2021): 4851-4858. doi:10.1017/S1368980020004553
- Wright, Helen R et al. “Differential effects of light wavelength in phase advancing the melatonin rhythm.” Journal of pineal research vol. 36,2 (2004): 140-4. doi:10.1046/j.1600-079x.2003.00108.x
