Hi, beginner here, great site.

I’ve been reading various articles and there seems to be consensus that a lot of muscle growth occurs whilst sleeping. In fact, some articles claim that virtually all muscle growth occurs whilst sleeping. I don’t know if this is correct or if there are any other thoughts on this?


The main question I have is; should I be putting a lot more emphasis on my nutrition just before sleeping since presumably that’s going to aid growth? There seems to be a lot of importance placed on getting 5-6 decent meals during the day but should I be more focused on piling in some food before my head hits the pillow each night? So far I’ve concentrated on the food that I eat between 7am and 9pm and then tend to not eat anything until the morning again – is that a mistake?

How long does food eaten earlier in the day, stay in your body to be turned into muscle – is a lot of it wasted? I’m a little ignorant in the way food turns into muscle!:confused:

Has anyone noticed any further gains if they introduced a late meal?

Thanks in advance.

Have a protein/fat meal about 45 mins - 1 hour before you go bed and you'll be fine.

And yeah, muscle building doesn't happen in the gym, it happens when you rest. :) Lifting weights tears down the muscle fibers and rest helps to repair them, in simple terms.

Eat a protein and fat meal before bed....

My personal favorite....2 scoops of nitrean and 2 tbls of natural peanut butter...

That being said, your nutrition throughout the day is just as important...:nod:

Edit: There is a whole thread dedicated to this in the fatloss/cutting forum...

I generally think it's a good idea to eat not too far before bed, and I do generally go P+F for this meal (might be different if you workout late or in some other types of diets). But don't overdo this meal. Don't "pile on the calories" as your activity level will be low. I generally get about 20-30g protein and maybe 10-20 g fat or so.

thanks guys. I'll check out the thread in the fatloss forum.