So I discovered the advice of fueling workouts this last fall and put it into practice. However, I only applied the before and during advice – making sure I was supplying the engine with fuel. Since, I was on traditional base and sweet spot base that all worked.
However, as sweet spot base progressed and morphed into short power build I noticed the number of poor sleep nights started to increase and all connected to nights after workout days. Even if I got the workout in early, sleep was often not good. I would sleep quickly but wake often and then the final waking would be way too early. I mentioned this on a YouTube podcast discussion and @ambermalika pointed to post-workout protein intake.
So, instead of taking a small amount of protein I did some searching (not researching) and found the advice was i should be taking around 40-50 grams of protein (not my typical 8-9 grams) after a workout and yes I follow the 1:3 advice on protein:carbs. Since then, the sleep problems have gone away. I’m using a mix of chocolate milk + some sort of recovery mix (pre-made or homemade with protein powder & maltodextrin). I tell you though the volume of protein powder needed for 40-50 grams of protein is quite a bit.
In fact, after Junction -3 I took on 50 grams of protein (or so) immediately afterwards and had a great night’s sleep. This is all good stuff, my last two ramp tests have stalled out, but the work I’m doing sustainably now is more than anything in the past I’ve ever done. I’ve a ramp test coming up and we will see.
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Interesting - out of curiosity, what time of day were you training? For my later evening hard efforts I often found fueling to have a huge impact on sleep, but haven’t thought that poor fueling post-morning workout could be having an impact on my poor sleep, will have to look into that.
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Typically I start around 4:00 pm.
Fueling can be such a game-changer! Dialing in what you need for pre/during/post ride requires a bit of trial and error, but when you figure out what works, it’s so awesome. I LOVE hearing this story - thank you so much for sharing! Protein in the evening can go a long way to mitigating the usual nighttime cortisol spike, which can interfere with sleep cycles. It sounds like a little bit of research and experimentation was all you needed to nail this for your training schedule and needs! So rad! This is a great example of why individuals’ needs may differ depending on their training plan and what time of day they train. So important to figure out what works for you. Really excited to hear how this goes for you! Congrats!
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I’m vegan and have some plant based protein powder in the house. I’m also looking for new options and have found many on Amazon. Now, I’m having trouble with the rest of the equation. Say we go 4:1. I’m roughly 68kg. I’ve seen .4 x kg to figure out the amount for protein, or is it carbs? I’ve seen other numbers 1-1.2 x kg. @ambermalika I believe you use 10g of whey and 40g of Gatorade mix. Is this based on your kg or just what works for you?
I used take only 8-16 grams protein post workout, after I bumped it up 40-50 is when things improved. I’m just a bit under 100 Kg of mass.
It might be the post-workout carbs that are improving sleep latency. Edit: I misread. Sleep latency was fine before addition of post-workout protein. Still great related podcast below!
Sleep Podcast by Revive Stronger is fantastic. The guest is a PhD in sleep, hosted by a guy obsessed with optimizing training adaptations (for hypertrophy, but still valuable listening). One of the best podcast episodes I’ve ever listened to on any topic.
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