Late night workouts and sleep loss? Get some shut•eye!

Posted by
June 9th, 2008

So you are one of those people who work out in the late evening. You may be stuck to this pattern do to work schedules, or social patterns that prevent you from getting into the gym at a normal hour. I know I myself just feel strongest at night and enjoy how quiet my gym gets. One of the issues with working out so late is how our supplements affect our sleep.

I have noticed a pattern of how well a supplement boosts my in gym performance, to the inability to fall asleep at night. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out some ingredients are meant to wake you up and make you feel more alert. There are a lot of pre-workout drinks that if you take the full recommended dosage you will be screaming "Awowawhooa" as you drive to the gym you are so pumped up.

Of course all that motivation gearing towards your work out is still there as you try to lie down and sleep, it's just not at a level that has you wanting to go back and work out more. Now supplements work differently for every one so there is always a need for experimentation. I know being in bed and failing to fall asleep until 6am was enough motivation to take my experiments a little further.

Now the trick with supplementation to mix it up all the time, your body will become accustomed to a supplement. Even though generally it is still working you will notice a decrease in results, just like when you use the same training routine for too long.

Pre-workout energy boosts

Typically for me before I go to the gym I will take a little BSN NO-XPLODE. BSN suggest on days of training to take 1-3 scoops prior to working out. While 3 scoops will light you on fire, it is a little counter productive if you plan on sleeping any time soon. Try to limit your self to 1 scoop but don’t hesitate to use more if it doesn't impact your sleep as much as it does mine, as I am sure there are people out there who could take 3 scoops and go straight to bed.

Workouts done let's get some sleep

Now thanks too Fusion Bodybuilding I have two methods I can induce better sleep with, so I tend to cycle from one to the other.

Method 1 - iSatori Technologies MORPH

MORPH is an amazing 3 phase supplement to be taken prior to your work out. After 2 hours the 3rd phase release occurs. The third phase is designed to help you recover, but I noted some thing that was superb for me. It actually seems to help me sleep at night. The first time I had taken it I actually was ready to go to sleep right at the gym. Luckily that initial potency was most likely fueled by months of horrible sleep. I have had some amazing gains from MORPH, and the fact it helps me get a better sleep makes the product solid gold to me.

Method 2 - Fusion SHUT•EYE

I like to cycle MORPH and Fusion Bodybuilding's ZEUS, but ZEUS doesn't have the affect on me of helping me go to sleep at night. Well not so long ago Fusion came out with a new supplement SHUT•EYE designed to induce muscle sleep. It has a rather enjoyable calming affect which makes it perfect to stack with ZEUS. I must warn you though it is best to take it 1 hour before sleep as suggested on the bottle, but you should try to take it at a normal time. Forgetting to take it until you have been tossing and turning for a few hours may leave you tired feeling in the morning.

Got any suggestions?

Hopefully one of the methods above works just as well for you as it does for me. As long as I work out late at night I will always be trying to find new ways to increase my recovering while giving me a good night’s sleep. I am always open to suggestion, after all I am only one man and I can't take and review every product SVN Canada carries (though I will try my best). I would love to hear from any other late night gym junkies on what you take for a better sleep. Just drop me a line at

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