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midnight feedings

Dustin07

Dustin07

Legend
Does anyone still follow this old school approach, of midnight protein shakes or aminos?

I'm curious from anyone who's tried it if they feel that they get more benefit from uninterrupted sleep, or waking up to pound a protein shake.
 
Pointless. You will not go catabolic overnight. If you're already up to use the bathroom, go for it, if you want. But I would not make it a point to set an alarm. Quality sleep is more important.
 
AntM1564 said:
Pointless. You will not go catabolic overnight. If you're already up to use the bathroom, go for it, if you want. But I would not make it a point to set an alarm. Quality sleep is more important.
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This exactly. If you need more calories, get them during the day time. Sleep is too important for muscle growth.
 
really the only benefit would be if you cant physically eat enough cals during the waking hours... I know guys that have to do this simply due to the volume of food needed to hit their daily cals. If having a shake at night allows you to squeeze in a few more (that you require and cant fit otherwise) then sure, it will help and work.
 
i'm gonna watch this for a bit and see what happens. as luck would have it, I woke up at 1:15am last night to hit the bathroom anyways so keeping the shake by my bed pre made was convenient. waking up and hitting my full breakfast is a bit difficult so this is a nice addition if it pans out ok.

I do also wonder if using a sleep timer that wakes you inbetween cycles would be better and less disruptive to normal sleep/hormonal cycles.
 
booneman77 said:
really the only benefit would be if you cant physically eat enough cals during the waking hours... I know guys that have to do this simply due to the volume of food needed to hit their daily cals. If having a shake at night allows you to squeeze in a few more (that you require and cant fit otherwise) then sure, it will help and work.
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This, but for the vast majority of people, it would be less of a hassle, and more beneficial, to just find a way to get a little more in sometime throughout the day. Whether it's a little snack or two when you're on the go or at work/school, intra-workout carbs, a few calorie dense additions to shakes, etc. One thing I sometimes do is have a protein shake, maybe with some fruits and vegetables as soon as I wake up, then have a real breakfast (with real foods) either right after or a little while after.
 
muscleupcrohn said:
This, but for the vast majority of people, it would be less of a hassle, and more beneficial, to just find a way to get a little more in sometime throughout the day. Whether it's a little snack or two when you're on the go or at work/school, intra-workout carbs, a few calorie dense additions to shakes, etc. One thing I sometimes do is have a protein shake, maybe with some fruits and vegetables as soon as I wake up, then have a real breakfast (with real foods) either right after or a little while after.
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If you get up to hit the bathroom even once a night it's no inconvenience. IMO waking yourself up to do it is prob not ideal as sleep is prob worth more than a few cals but if you're already up, maximize that time
 
booneman77 said:
If you get up to hit the bathroom even once a night it's no inconvenience. IMO waking yourself up to do it is prob not ideal as sleep is prob worth more than a few cals but if you're already up, maximize that time
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Yeah, if you already wake up then it could help, but ideally you don't want to wake up in the middle of the night.
 
muscleupcrohn said:
Yeah, if you already wake up then it could help, but ideally you don't want to wake up in the middle of the night.
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Why not? if you're using a sleep timer which measures your sleep cycles and wakes you between them to as not disrupt anything does it have a negative hormonal affect? Do you know this for sure? I don't mean to be rude but without some sort of evidence I don't see where you're coming from. my first post after all was "from anyone who's tried it".
 
Dustin07 said:
Why not? if you're using a sleep timer which measures your sleep cycles and wakes you between them to as not disrupt anything does it have a negative hormonal affect? Do you know this for sure? I don't mean to be rude but without some sort of evidence I don't see where you're coming from. my first post after all was "from anyone who's tried it".
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Sure, if you have a sleep timer, wake up at the right time, and can fall back asleep quickly and easily, go for it, but not everyone can easily do all of these things and not screw up their sleep. Unless you're eating some ungodly amount, it doesn't seem necessary, but it can be done I suppose.
 
During a bulking cycle, If I woke up, I'd have a big tablespoon of peanut butter and sometimes a pre-made shake.

It worked, as I put on weight

Got fat too
 
Get your calories during the waking hours. Sleep if far too important.

Additionally, pre bed and nighttime food consumption, (most in particularly for me, liquid shakes), can cause GERD (regular or the more sinister silent) which is very unhealthy, especially if you aspirate (and wake up dead). Once you've inhailed a mouth full of protein shake deep into your lungs it will change your view on the matter.
 
it seems as if you're zoned in on trying it anyways, so your best bet would be to do it for a while, and see how you respond...

is there a reason why other than an "Old School" approach as to why you want to try it out?

I'm with the majority, unless you're struggling to hit a specific caloric intake, there's really no need...
 
well when I was bulking, I had gone forward with keeping a protein shake pre made next to the bed. when I woke up I drank it. I didn't set an alarm. if I didn't wake up, I drank it first thing in the morning when my alarm did go off. I gained the amount of weight I wanted at a reasonable pace. not so fast that i got fat, but fast enough that i was seeing strength gains as well.

then I traveled 3 times in four months (some work, some play) and things kinda fell off the map. my boy is in little league now and i'm coaching so all of this has kind of been put on hiatus for the first time in years. this is the hardest spring I've ever had for training.
 
yea I hear ya man...life can really throw some curve balls when it wants too...

...working graveyard, and taking care of my newborn after shift makes lifting harder than ever before for me...diet for the most part is pretty consistent on my part...its sleep I have no luck with...I average maybe 4.5-5 a day, with some days only being 2-3, and only one day a week where I can get anywhere near 7-8...hopefully it works for you.
 
i dont know why i said traveled 3 times in 4 months. it was in 4 weeks! lol.

yeah graveyard would be really difficult for me. winter time is hard for me energy wise so working nights would crush me. one of my travels was to Arizona earlier this month for spring training baseball to watch the Mariners. I needed that sunshine!
 
Yomo said:
yea I hear ya man...life can really throw some curve balls when it wants too...

...working graveyard, and taking care of my newborn after shift makes lifting harder than ever before for me...diet for the most part is pretty consistent on my part...its sleep I have no luck with...I average maybe 4.5-5 a day, with some days only being 2-3, and only one day a week where I can get anywhere near 7-8...hopefully it works for you.
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get that sleep! sleep deprivation starts at 6hrs or less. i notice if i dont get my 8hrs i'm shot with programming. forget the gains.
 
Yomo said:
it seems as if you're zoned in on trying it anyways, so your best bet would be to do it for a while, and see how you respond...

is there a reason why other than an "Old School" approach as to why you want to try it out?

I'm with the majority, unless you're struggling to hit a specific caloric intake, there's really no need...
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I agree with this but if he's struggling to gain weight all he needs is 3 weight gainer shakes between meals. 3,000 calories a day on top of 3 solid meals should make him grow.
 
I used to get up in the middle of the night to drink a shake (would do it when I had to take a pee). But eventually I noticed better results when I would get more sleep

AND

It was easier on my wallet since I wasn't using shakes all the time
 
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