Philip Pape: 0:01

If you're someone who prioritizes your training, your nutrition and recovery, but sleep still feels a little bit elusive, like this frustrating puzzle you can't solve and you've tried a lot of the hacks the standard advice about blue light blockers and magnesium and cold room temperature, but you're still waking up tired. I'm going to share three system level fixes that you might not have thought about that can address the root causes and not just the symptoms. One involves rethinking when you train, another challenges the materials you sleep with, and the third is going to question sleeping in on the weekend. Welcome to Wits and Weights, the show that helps you build a strong, healthy physique using evidence, engineering and efficiency. I'm your host, philip Pape, and today we're going to tackle a problem that affects all aspects of your physique goals, and that is sleep.

Philip Pape: 1:00

You know that feeling when you've dialed in all the things. You're training consistently. Your nutrition is on point, you're even managing your stress, but something feels off. You know that feeling when you've dialed in all the things you're training consistently. Your nutrition is on point, you're even managing your stress, but something feels off. You know you're hitting your protein, you're getting your steps, you're following the program, but the recovery might not be there, or your energy is inconsistent or your fat loss has stalled, and maybe part of that is due to, you know, cravings, even sometimes the feeling of uncontrollable cravings, even despite doing everything right, maybe even belly fat. You're trying to get rid of the belly fat. It's not quite working Well, nine times out of 10,.

Philip Pape: 1:31

The missing piece is sleep. We have to understand this. Not getting enough quality sleep. We're not talking just quantity of sleep, although that's important. It's this overall system that allows you to have that consistent sleep quality. Most people treat sleep problems like isolated incidents. We try to have these individual hacks when reality it's the bigger picture. That's important, but today I do want to drill down a level and talk about three fixes that can get, that can address some of the root causes of sleep quality, of restfulness, the things that you can measure with, say, your Oura Ring or your Fitbit about deep sleep and REM sleep, and I think if you can address these and then see what the data tells you, you can find something that works better for you. We are going to cover today how training timing affects your sleep architecture. Let's call it how the choice of what you sleep in, the materials could affect your recovery and your body temperature, and then a weekend habit that many of us are guilty of that could be throwing off your metabolism a little bit that you didn't even realize. So by the end of this episode, you're going to understand why better sleep isn't just about feeling rested, even though that's important. It's also optimizing your fat loss, your recovery, so you build that muscle and even your cognitive performance and your mental alertness and your energy throughout the day. And then I'm going to share a bonus protocol at the end that can reset your energy in under two minutes. So stick around for that.

Philip Pape: 2:59

All right, let's start building a better sleep system. Let's talk about first the kind of system level here. When it comes to sleep, you don't want to just replace one broken piece. You want to look at the whole system and understand why it failed in the first place. And poor sleep isn't usually about one thing going wrong. It's multiple things interacting and they cascade right, kind of like when I say hormones are tied up with everything. They're tied up with your muscle and your training and everything else. Similar thing is sleep can be causing a lot of the other issues you're experiencing, one of those, the big ones being cravings and stalled fat loss, where your metabolism starts to compensate. So today we're going to look at three of those.

Philip Pape: 3:37

Let's start with fix number one, and this one a lot of people don't think about, but it has to do with your training schedule. Your training schedule isn't just about being consistent in the gym, although that's an extremely important piece of it. It is actually part of your sleep schedule as well. Most people don't think about that how workout timing affects your circadian rhythm and your sleep drive in all different ways, both in the morning, in the afternoon and in the afternoon. Slash evening Exercise of any kind impacts your autonomic nervous system for a while after you're done, about six to 12 hours. So if you're training late in the day this is the first one I'm going to start with If you're training late in the day and you're struggling to fall asleep, you're basically fighting an elevated core body temperature and a high activated sympathetic nervous system. It's kind of the reason why I suggest people don't, you know, watch TV or read or watch anything stimulating, like on social media, you know, or news, for example, today, before they go to sleep. So the solution to that is trying to train earlier in the day and seeing how that affects your sleep quality and your stress. Because if you can move your training to the morning I'm a huge fan of this one it will lower your evening cortisol, right. It will actually help you get into a better stress curve for the day and support and strengthen your circadian rhythm by creating that clear wake signal by training in the morning.

Philip Pape: 5:03

Now, if you have to train later which my number one criteria is usually adherence you need to be able to get to the gym consistently. So if you can't do that in the morning and you don't go to the gym, well what's the point right? So if you must train later because of schedule or preference or whatever, you want to make sure that those are strength training sessions and you're not doing cardio. That's my next. Resistance training can still be helpful and increase your sleep drive, even if it's later in the day, without the stimulatory effects of high intensity cardio.

Philip Pape: 5:36

So if you're going to train later in the day, at least don't do any form of cardio other than walking. Of course walking is actually great, but more intense cardio that you're going to fit in, put that somewhere else, earlier in the day or on your non-training day, but earlier during the day the next piece of this when it comes to your training schedule is to consolidate your training days and instead of doing, say, four, five or six days a week, try three or four or even two if you have to, although I think two is going to result in too little volume for the week. But in some cases, when I've gone into a fat loss phase, for example, I don't have a lot of recovery capacity, I will do three days a week, knowing that that gives me more rest days and more potential time to get a little bit extra sleep. So, as much as I am a fan of consistent sleep times, a little bit of difference let's say a half an hour can be helpful when you need that extra half hour on the days where you're not training. So if you normally train in the morning, now you sleep in an extra half hour. I wouldn't sleep an extra hour or more. That's actually gonna tie to something we're gonna talk about later today but just to have that little extra time and it's not only the sleep, it's the rest, the rest where your nervous system can fully recover and that's gonna lead to deeper sleep on your non-training day. See, this is the thing with sleep, it's not just about the time in bed. It's all the other things you do during the day that can affect the time in bed and how deep and restful that sleep is. The data shows that exercise improves sleep quality. Just period doing any sorts of movement increase. So being active right, even walking increases your sleep quality by up to 65%. But the timing here is what determines whether you get that benefit or you're fighting against it. So think about your training schedule for this one. Okay, this is really more than a hack. This is very fundamental to both the consistency of your training, but also how it affects your restfulness, your stress throughout the day, your sleep and your recovery. All right. So again, the the the hacks are trained in the morning is is my preference for most people. And if you can't train earlier in the afternoon, don't train too late and don't put cardio at the end of the day, right, and then you know, think about the days per week and how that affects your ability to rest, especially when you're during fat loss. All right. So system fix.

Philip Pape: 7:48

Number two for sleep. I really love this one, and this is about regulating your body temperature, the onset of sleep, right when you go into bed and then between the time you set your head down on the pillow and you actually fall asleep requires a drop, a fairly precise drop, in your core body temperature. I don't know if you're aware of this, but you need about a two to three degree Fahrenheit drop in your temperature to go to sleep, and a lot of us are, besides our room temperature right, which you've heard this before. I think you should just naturally have your temperature set to a comfortable, cool temperature for bed, no matter what it tends to save energy. Obviously it depends on the time of year, whether you have a fan, whether you have windows, whether you have air conditioner, all of that. But the you know. But assuming that's all set.

Philip Pape: 8:33

The bedding is your next real opportunity here and the problem I've seen. I used to think it was the mattress, right, and I have a really good trust me, expensive mattress and I know there's Tempur-Pedics and there's Sleep Number and there's all these fancy mattresses and that's great. That's going to really help with the comfort and the firmness. But think about what you're actually sleeping on and in it's sheets. It's the sheets and most sheets are like the typical polyester and cotton blend. They actually trap heat and moisture. So if you're the type like me that gets a little bit warm, you'll start to sweat. That's going to prevent you getting rid of that body heat and regulating your body and then getting into deep sleep. I know for a fact when I'm hotter, for whatever reason including I had alcohol at night and that makes me hotter, whatever reason when your body temperature is higher and then the next day you wake up, your deep sleep is far less than it should have been, and that is why. So, if you think about high thread count fabrics, which are considered higher quality, but the problem is they are thicker and they create this micro environment that actually fights against natural temperature cycling. So what is the fix here?

Philip Pape: 9:37

You have to look carefully at the materials for your sheets, materials that actively wick moisture away, that promote airflow. It's just like when you train and you think about what you're wearing your clothes, your shirt, your pants right, you want them to be comfortable. You don't want to get all sticky and sweaty, because then that'll kind of heat you up and slow you down. So I really love sheets that are derived from a material that can help you keep cooler. One such in particular, which is what I use, is made from viscose that comes from bamboo. Now here's here's a funny little story. My TMI the underwear that I wear, are briefs made with a bamboo derived material, and I noticed they kept me a lot cooler and they were great for workouts and everything else. And then I'm like well, is there something similar for sheets? And there is, and the ones I use are by Cozy Earth You're probably going to hear an ad for that in a moment, but those are the ones I use because they cool you down. They create a two to three degree cooler sleep surface compared to these other materials like cotton.

Philip Pape: 10:36

Hey, this is Philip, and you know that one spot in your home you were thinking about all day, the place where you can finally unwind and relax. For me, that's my bed. I have a really good mattress, but I was still having trouble with getting too hot at night and not feeling fully rested. You know that feeling where you have your seven or eight hours but you still feel tired in the morning. Well, it turns out that the missing piece was my sheets. So I tried some different brands and I finally settled on a really comfortable sheet set from Cozy Earth, made from viscose, from bamboo. They're temperature regulating, so they naturally wick away heat and moisture, which has made my sleep way more restful. So if you run hot at night, like I do, or your partner's always stealing the covers because they're cold, this could be a game changer for your sleep quality and recovery. Cozy Earth also gives you a 100-night sleep trial and a 10-year warranty, so you can literally try them for three months with your routine and still return them if you don't love them. Now think about this you spend 2,500 hours a year in bed and you're already investing in training and nutrition, so why not optimize your sleep as well? Head over to witsandweightscom slash Cozy Earth and use my code WITSANDWEIGHTS for 20% off to try these for yourself, because sometimes it's the small upgrades that make the biggest difference. Again, go to witsandweightscom slash Co. So definitely take a look at the material that your sheets are made from and whether that is helping out with your body temperature, knowing that that can make a massive difference in your deep sleep and recovery.

Philip Pape: 12:04

All right, now fix number three is really about the consistency of your circadian rhythm and the sleep and wake times. Now I'm not going to just give you the simple, tried and true recommendation of consistent bed and wake times. Give you the simple, tried and true recommendation of consistent bed and wake times. I'm going to actually talk about the impact that happens when you sleep in too much, which often happens on the weekend. So raise your hand or do it virtually If you like to sleep in on a Saturday or Sunday.

Philip Pape: 12:30

You know, you've had kind of a tough week. Maybe you've had seven hours a night, maybe six and a half, you know, and it's it's kind of right on that hairy edge of really what you need, and then you try to make up for it on the weekend, and when you do that by at least 45 minutes to an hour longer than you slept on the weekdays, it creates something called social jet lag. Your body experiences the same disruption as if you flew across multiple time zones. Just one night of sleeping in for two hours or more actually shifts your circadian rhythm, not permanently, but it basically tells your body okay, now we've just moved things. And so not only do you feel groggy and you might not feel groggy when you wake up but it kind of has a cascading effect of grogginess. It also affects your glucose metabolism, your hunger hormones, your recovery capacity for several days potentially. So sleeping in on the weekend could actually be backfiring. Studies show that people with inconsistent sleep schedules have 27% higher risk of metabolic dysfunction, even when their sleep time is sufficient.

Philip Pape: 13:32

So really the advice here is stay within an hour of your normal sleep and wake times, especially the wake time. Most of us go to bed around the same time, even on the weekends, let's say. I mean sometimes it's later, but especially in the weekends. Don't try to sleep in by some extreme amount of time that goes beyond what you normally sleep on the weekdays. I know that's tough to hear, because you wanna get that sleep. If anything, I would maybe add a nap at a different point or really focus on the week being a little bit longer, if that's what you need on those days. And it's kind of like the pressure in your system where small deviations are manageable but large ones can cause a change in the threshold, let's say where your body is like okay, something has changed. We are now going to go into a different mode where you actually need more sleep and then come Monday you don't get that sleep and all of a sudden you're not well rested and it just goes haywire. So I would say try to extend the amount of time you sleep during the week and or don't sleep in excessively on the weekend, and that's really going to help there. All right, I actually have a bonus hack for you here, and it's what I call the two minute reset, and I know I've heard this a couple times on some different podcasts. And then I looked into the research and it's very fascinating, because I didn't believe this to be the case. But now I'm taking advantage of this myself because it's a really great hack for people who are super busy, okay, who are just slammed all day.

Philip Pape: 14:56

Deep sleep does require long periods of rest, so your brain's gonna benefit from that, but your brain can also benefit from ultra short periods of disengagement. There is research on brief mental rest that shows even two to 10 minute periods of reduced stimulation. Notice, I'm not talking about going to a deep sleep, a nap, but just kind of a cat nap, if you want to call it, or just closing your eyes. It can restore your cognitive capacity and all you have to do is close your eyes, eliminate any sensory input going on around you. Maybe that requires a sleep mask, maybe it requires earbuds. I have AirPods. You can turn on the noise cancellation and it just totally shuts everything off and then just exist without thinking. This is not meditation, if you're like I don't like to meditate, I don't want to do breath work. No, it's none of that. It is not napping, it is just neural downtime. That's it, just neural downtime.

Philip Pape: 15:57

Now I have one more hack for you, yet another bonus. It's called the coffee nap, and this is to consume caffeine and then immediately rest for 15 to 20 minutes. Why? Because the caffeine takes a while to kick in. It takes about 20 minutes to kick in right as you emerge, and then it creates this enhanced alertness without the grogginess. That's another thing. So if you're going to have kind of a small nap, do it right, literally right after you take coffee. Now, that doesn't work for a lot of us who drink coffee kind of early in the morning, when we're already well rested. But it's just another hack that I wanted to share with you. So none of these things work in isolation.

Philip Pape: 16:33

I think the most effective approach combines all of them, where you look at your training schedule and you optimize it for your circadian rhythm. You make sure your sleep environment is helpful for your body temperature, especially by looking at your sheets. Go check out those cozy earth sheets. I love them. I mean they're super comfortable. When my daughters and I will like watch TV in bed together, we'll just like throw on the sheets, because they're so comfy, just to watch TV, because they're just that. Cooling and relaxing. Maintaining your circadian rhythm by not sleeping in beyond 60 minutes versus your normal sleep schedule All of these can be super helpful.

Philip Pape: 17:06

So I want you to start with the thing that addresses your biggest current failure point, your most immediate constraint. You know, if you're really wired at night all the time, maybe you're training too late. If you're hot all the time, look at your sheets. If the weekends, if you're sleeping in too much and that's causing grogginess down the line, try shortening that window and seeing what happens and then track these changes systematically. Right, look at your, your latency, the wake frequency, your morning energy and biofeedback, anything you can track on a wearable if that's helpful to you, like your sleep stages, and give it. Give any change, like seven to 10, 10 days at least, to show measurable effects. Like anything we do here. When you're going to experiment with yourself, change one thing and give it a little bit of time to work itself through.

Philip Pape: 17:46

Most of the sleep advice that I hear and see on podcasts are like are one-off hacks or it's a list of 20 things, and I do agree there are lots of things that can be helpful, but I like to look at what is the lowest hanging fruit, what's a big thing that's easy to do, the kind of highest ROI, highest return on investment. So the things I shared today, I really thought through everything that I do. I thought through what the experts are telling us, what the research is telling us, and I thought these would be important ones to share. But there is one more interaction when it comes to sleep that most people are missing, and that is that your sleep quality directly affects your training recovery, which then affects your next day's sleep drive, which then affects your circadian rhythm, and so it's a feedback loop, right? So that's why I think that's why I wanted to make this kind of an engineering episode, if you will, when it comes to feedback.

Philip Pape: 18:32

Better sleep upgrades the whole system of recovery that we care about, which then lets you adapt better to your strength training, improve your muscle building, improve your body composition, increase your metabolism, reduce fat, enhance your cognitive performance shall I go on? So sleep isn't just rest, it is actually a foundation that amplifies everything else you're doing, kind of like the concept of upward spiraling right, and I think people get overwhelmed when it comes to fixing sleep sometimes because they think everything has to be fixed. But just fix one thing at a time, like we talked about today, and then the solution for you is gonna become clear. Try one of those this week. Pick the one that addresses your current limitation, track them and then add in the others as you need.

Philip Pape: 19:13

All right, if you wanna go deeper on sleep optimization, I do have a free guide called Better Sleep, better Body. It's just a simple list of ideas, kind of like the hacks that I mentioned, that I criticize all the time, but it is a list of sort of troubleshooting frameworks and ideas to improve your sleep beyond what we talked about today. Go to witsandweightscom, slash free or click the link in the show notes for the Better Sleep, better Body guide. All right, until next time, keep using your wits lifting those weights and remember sleep isn't just rest. It is the foundation that amplifies everything else you're doing. I'll talk to you next time here on the Wits and Weights Podcast.