Hi Guys, I’ve been getting involved in some of the discussions on fitness and bodybuilding forums since 15 years ago. One of the things that comes up more often than not is the question of what to have before bed to keep the “Anabolic Drive” going all night.

Well, to be quite honest, there isn’t anything that is going to last the 8-10 hours you’re asleep. It only takes roughly 4 hours for your body to slip into a post-absorptive (catabolic) state. I believe that I’ve come up with a simple technique that is not only effective and potent but also convenient and easy to do.

Some serious bodybuilders will get up in the middle of the night and make a full-blown meal. To me, this is a bit on the extreme side. Not only does it limit sleep and recovery time, but not many of us really want to fire up the George Foreman at 2 am!

The Muscle Building Ingredients

So here’s what you’ll need:

• 1 packet of your favorite Meal Replacement “MRP”
• 1 C milk – I prefer skim, but it’s up to you.
• 25-30g of Whey Isolate
• 5-10g Glutamine
• 500mg of NAC
• 16-20oz of water throughout the night.

That’s it, it’s simple but very effective and I’ll explain why.

Breaking It Down

Milk

By now, I will spare you the lecture on benefits. But, there is one very important aspect that milk has besides its protein makeup. And that is lactose.

If you aren’t lactose intolerant, it’s your best friend in the middle of the night. Skim milk has a Glycemic Index of about 32 out of 100. That’s is very low and what that means is that it will provide a slow and steady release of the all important hormone, Insulin. Also, the continual supply of insulin will ensure that the whey Isolate is channeled to muscle tissue and not utilized for energy production.

And yes, you do burn calories during sleep. If you want to figure out how many, (.0175) x (.9) x (weight in kg) x (time in minutes). If you’re focused on getting lean or getting ready for a contest, you would need to figure this “mid-night muscle meal” into your daily caloric intake.

Whey Isolate

I’m sure we are all well aware that whey is on the top of the charts in protein. But it’s often looked at as a “post-workout” protein. I hope to change that theory. Whey isolate, when processed correctly, has unbelievable able health-promoting properties.

But oligopeptides found in certain hydrolysates have the unique ability to stimulate protein synthesis. Unlike whole proteins, oligopeptides are not completely cleaved into single amino acids before absorption. They are absorbed intact and deliver massive amounts of muscle building nitrogen to muscle cells. When combined with the milk, you provide a very fast and large amount of protein followed by a more steady and continual flow of nitrogen, which promotes higher nitrogen retention.

Personally I would suggest a hydrolyzed whey for benefit of the delivery of oligopeptides (amino acid chains 6-8 amino long).

Glutamine

On the bodybuilding forums and social media, there was a big debate about whether or not it was beneficial for use during a bulking phase. I truly believe that it is. Its role in muscle growth is multifaceted and indirect. To make a long story short, you relieve the burden from your muscle tissue to meet the demands of glutamine by your immune system, intestinal tract, brain, and so on. You have to realize that the amino acids that contribute the most to protein synthesis are the BCAAs.

However, they are also the amino acids responsible for Glutamine synthesis. Combining large amounts of BCAAs from the Whey isolate with a large dose of Glutamine will ensure that the critical building blocks from the whey are utilized for protein synthesis.

It’s also a cell volumizer, which is also critical. Even a slight increase in cell volume is like a light switch for protein synthesis. Lastly are its effects on GH. Over a 400% increase in GH when administered orally. However, Most GH is destroyed in the liver and converted into Insulin Growth Factor-I (IGF-I). And much like the name implies, insulin is required to maximize its effects on muscle growth. This ties back with the low GI carbs found in milk.

You don’t need to worry about Glutamine competing with other proteins for absorption; it appears that is a thing of the past. Probably due to the poor testing techniques that were available then. It seems that adding glutamine to your protein will increase the rate of protein synthesis. If you think you’re “OK” during a bulking phase without it, you’re kidding yourself.

NAC

What’s the deal on NAC?

NAC is the only stable form of the amino acid, cysteine, that has an acetyl group bound on the N-Terminal, or N-Acetyl-Cysteine. Cysteine, along with glutamine, is the critical link in muscle growth. Net gains in muscle mass will only occur when enough of these to nutrients have been supplied by the liver, or in this case from supplementation.

It also raises levels of Glutathione in blood, out bodies primary anti-oxidant and without it we can build a single strand of muscle fiber. This will keep those free-radicles at bay and prevent any damage they might do.

And lastly, maintaining high levels of cysteine & glutamine in the blood allows intra-muscular glutamine stores to go untouched which leaves the muscle building process un-interrupted. The combination of whey & NAC provides ample amounts of cysteine and the addition of glutamine meets all the demands of the body so your muscles can recover and grow like never before!

Bringing It Together

So how do we make this work?

It’s rather simple and very easy to do. About 30 min before you plan to hit the sack. Mix up that packet of your favorite MRP. I like to dump mine in a bowl and mix it into a thick chocolate pudding before bed! The combination of slow-digesting protein from casein/milk isolate will last most of them for 4 hours before a catabolic state ensues.

Now before you brush your little teeth and go to bed, get everything ready to make this as smooth as possible. Get a shaker bottle, pour 1 cup of milk in and put it somewhere that is quick to get at. I have a very small apartment, so I just leave it on the top shelf of the fridge. Then scoop out your Whey and set it next to the milk.

If you want to measure out your Glutamine and put in something small and set it aside as well. Lastly, fill a tall glass or bottle with some water and set it next to your bed. So plan to get up about halfway through your normal sleep time. Most of us have that certain time when we wake up to hit the john, so this would be good. Usually wake up around 1 or 1:30 am, which is perfect.

Now when you wake up to hit the bathroom, just stagger to where your stuff is, dump the Whey and glutamine in with the milk and down it with the capsule of NAC. The important thing to remember is NOT to forget is to drink the water you have by your bed. Try as hard as you can to finish it.

The first couple of nights are rough but you get used to it. Remember, cell volume is important to muscle growth. We lose about 3 liters of water during sleep – that’s bad! If you’ve got a stuffy & hot apartment like me, then you’re probably losing more.

Conclusion

So there you have it. That was simple, right? That will only take a total of 3 min out of your precious sleep and will boost gains significantly. Three little minutes to keep you building muscle 24 hours a day. Catabolism is now a thing of the past. Follow this for a plan for a few weeks and I’m sure you’ll see the benefits of those 3 extra minutes!

I place a high priority on diet and nutritional timing. We have to realize that muscle development is going on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If we don’t supply the right material, we short-circuit the process and our results.