Seminars, Workshop, and Class Information

You can eat all the right foods and intensely exercise 5 days per week, however if you do not allow the body to regenerate itself via proper sleep and rest you are taking 1 step forward and 2 steps backwards. Thinks back 5,000 years ago before humans had electrical lighting. What did humans do when the sun set? He and/or she went to sleep, and they slept until the sunrise. Physiologically we are not very far removed from primitive man who lived and survived in the wilderness, however, we have adapted lifestyles that have certainly far removed us.

If you recall from the “Keep It Lipolytic” section it stated that after 6pm our metabolism begins to slowly shut down. The brain is signaling the muscles and nervous system to slow down and start repairing.

Sleep

Of course we all know the prevailing thought is that we need 8 hours of sleep, quality of sleep needs to be the emphasis. As the sunsets the body’s Cortisol (catabolic hormone) levels drops and *DHEA (growth hormone) levels increase. Conversely, as the sunrises Cortisol levels increase as DHEA decreases. Cortisol is a necessary hormone for mobilizing amino acids (protein) for the body, however, an excess of cortisol can increase blood sugar levels, decrease protein absorption, decrease muscle gain, and lead to increase fat accumulation. DHEA is an anabolic hormone that is a precursor to production of testosterone (male hormone) and estrogen (female hormone). DHEA is significant in developing lean muscle and decreasing body fat.

Ideally the optimal time to retire for the evening is 10:00pm and arise at sunrise(6:00am). Between the hours of 10:00pm-2:00am cellular regeneration and repair (muscles and organs) is occurring. Additionally, the adrenal glands do a considerable amount of repair during this time period(11:00pm-1:00am) along with the gall bladder dumping toxins which will be excreted from the body via urinary and fecal waste. However, if you stay up beyond 1:00am the toxins will back up into the liver and muscle tissues causing health complications.

From 2:00am-6:00am neurogenic (nervous system) regeneration and repair is occurring.

I have had clients and friends ask me “as long as I get 8 hours of sleep what difference does it make what time I go to bed”. If you go to bed at 1:00am and get up at 9:00am you have compromised 3 hours of cellular repair which confuses the entire system causing more production of CORTISOL and less production of DHEA because you stayed up to late.

Our bodies were designed to follow the sun. When the suns rises we produce energy by working and gathering, when the sunsets we conserve energy by resting and sleeping.

After age 25 the body produces less growth hormones and melatonin (hormone to help deep sleep), so if you burning the candle on both ends with stress, over exercising , sleep deprivation, poor eating, and a host of others, you are a freight train that is about to derail in the future.

The good news is that growth hormone productivity can be enhanced and excess cortisol levels can be minimized with good training, proper eating, managed stress, and quality sleep and rest.

Developing more muscle and losing body fat does not occur while you train in the gym, it does not occur while your eating breakfast, lunch, dinner, and/or snacks, it occurs during optimal sleep and recovery when the bodily system can rest, repair, and regenerate itself.

*DHEA (dehydroeplandosterone)