PRE WORKOUTS WITH HIGH CAFFEINE BETTER WITH NAPS

WHAT IS A COFFEE NAP?

Sleep is essential for making new muscle gains. Many people are quick to neglect the optimal amount of sleep they need for muscle growth. A 2017 study of over 10,125 university students found that those who slept less than 6 hours had poorer strength than those who slept 7-8 hours.[1]

Blood tests have found a single night of sleep loss can increase cortisol by 24%, reduce testosterone by 24%, and reduce protein synthesis by 18%.[2] Researchers found that when subjects slept 1 hour less a night for five days resulted in a substantial loss of muscle compared to a group that was allowed a normal sleep pattern.[3]

Sleep is necessary for the immune system, the male sex hormone testosterone, and keeping the stress hormone cortisol (i.e., regulated by the pituitary gland and the adrenal gland) in balance. With sleep loss, testosterone hormone levels decline which can lead to a loss of sex drive, high blood pressure, and a reduced muscle building state.

Not many people can start their day with a cup of coffee. The average amount of caffeine in a cup of coffee is between 80-120 mg of caffeine. In addition to the mental effects of caffeine, caffeine also reduces pain which is often found in several pain relievers. The positive and negative effects of caffeine on athletic performance are well documented. Caffeine has a inverted U shape response with too little or too much have detrimental performance effects. labs caffeine pills is a well known pharmaceutical grade caffeine capsule.

COFFEE NAP RESEARCH

A few years ago, in the biohacking realms of blogs for improving mental performance, it was stated that if you wanted to get the optimal benefits of caffeine, it should be consumed before taking a nap. Athletes often think that its good to take a nap is after a workout. Check out the caffeine nap reddit responses who tried it.

HOW TO TAKE CAFFEINE NAPS FOR BETTER PERFORMANCE

Too long of a nap can result in sleep grogginess and a worsening mood state. Most bodybuilders will take a pre workout with high caffeine or caffeine anhydrous (i.e., caffeine pills) to energy and focus to workout. Caffeine metabolism and performance is well documented; caffeine peaks in the blood roughly 45 minutes after consumption.

The newest research suggests that you may want to take a nap before your workout for better performance. Naps for 20 minutes have been found to restore cognitive impairment caused by 16 hours of sleep deprivation.(4) There were tons of testimonials about people swearing how great they felt when they woke up with a caffeine buzz, but there was no research to validate this claim until this month. Caffeine peaks in the system by 45-60 minutes and has a long half-life (2-10 hours), so this would not disrupt the nap time if taken immediately before a nap.

Study Groups

Researchers randomized trained martial artists to the following groups, but they performed each one of the conditions one week apart:

a.) Normal night sleep (no nap)

b.) Sleep restriction + caffeine placebo

c.) Sleep restriction + 5mg/kg caffeine

d.) Sleep restriction + nap + placebo

e.) Sleep restriction + nap + 5mg/kg caffeine

Results

The subjects then performed physical performance tests (anaerobic sprint test). These martial artists drank less than 80 mg of caffeine per day, so they were not habitual caffeine users. At the end of the study, the caffeine before a nap resulted in the greatest performance outcomes. Interestingly, the caffeine plus sleep restriction performed no better than the caffeine and placebo groups.

The authors discussed how caffeine blocks the suppressive effects of adenosine and that napping also suppresses adenosine levels, so the combination of the two could have had a synergistic effect on suppressing adenosine and increasing performance. Some of the other findings were that the napping groups had reduced levels of muscle damage. (5)

REFERENCES

1.     Yanbo Chen et al., “Relationship between Sleep and Muscle Strength among Chinese University Students: A Cross-Sectional Study,” Journal of Musculoskeletal & Neuronal Interactions 17, no. 4 (December 2017): 327–33.

2.     Séverine Lamon et al., “The Effect of Acute Sleep Deprivation on Skeletal Muscle Protein Synthesis and the Hormonal Environment,” Physiological Reports 9, no. 1 (January 5, 2021): e14660.

3.     Xuewen Wang et al., “Influence of Sleep Restriction on Weight Loss Outcomes Associated with Caloric Restriction,” Sleep 41, no. 5 (May 1, 2018).

4.     MILNER, C.E. and COTE, K.A. (2009), Benefits of napping in healthy adults: impact of nap length, time of day, age, and experience with napping. Journal of Sleep Research, 18: 272-281. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2869.2008.00718.x

5.     Romdhani, Mohamed & Souissi, Nizar & Moussa Chamari, Imen & Chaabouni, Yassine & Kacem, Mahdouani & Sahnoun, Zouheir & Driss, Tarak & Chamari, Karim & Hammouda, Omar. (2021). Caffeine Use or Napping to Enhance Repeated Sprint Performance After Partial Sleep Deprivation: Why Not Both?. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance. 16. 10.1123/ijspp.2019-0792.