I used to dread the first day back to school.
It marked the first day of classes. With classes come advanced physics, electronics, aircraft performance etc. With these courses comes lots of stress. With this stress comes insomnia.
Well, it used to.
After an Engineering degree, I’ve finally been able to get some quality sleep. Through tons of experimentation, this is the method that works best for me:
Don’t Go to Bed Hungry
If I’m super hungry when I go to bed, that’s all I can think about. If I allow myself, I will start to feel stressed out. Here comes the cortisol. Stress in the day time isn’t necessarily a bad thing (in fact, higher cortisol levels in the morning is one of the reasons why you wake up), but stress in the night time can be a disaster. If I eat a meal of meat, veggies, and coconut oil within 2 hours before going to sleep, then I’m not hungry.
Brush Your Teeth (and don’t forget to floss, it could add 6 years to your life)
It’s just a good idea to practice good hygiene, and we finally have an answer. According to Dr. Michael F. Roizen, in his book Real Age, flossing may add over six years to your lifespan because it “…helps to keep your arteries young because it keeps bacteria that causes inflammation from initiating an immune system response. Inflammation is the result of a tiggered immune system. It is inflammation that causes the swelling in your arteries. The swelling, in turn leads to a higher risk of cardivascular disease.” Inflammation can also lead to higher levels of cortisol in your system (which we want to keep low at bed time).
Don’t Use ZMA! Use Zinc Chelate, Topical Magnesium Oil, and Sublingual B12 + Melatonin
This is my “sleep stack”. For years, I used ZMA and felt that it didn’t help me fall asleep (although it did make my fingernails look super young). After hearing much about Topical Magnesium oil, I decided to take each component in ZMA separately. My routine:
- Take 25mg of Zinc Chelate with 250mL of water.
- Rub Topical Magnesium Oil on my legs, arms, shoulder, chest, and stomach (if you have eczema, this stuff works like a champ to reduce it). Magnesium calms down your restless body, and helps it cope with stress. *Note: I’ve tried both an oral magnesium and the topical, and the topical is a billion times better.
- Turn off the lights, lie down in bed, and place a sublingual Melatonin + B12 under your tongue.
Some people may argue that the B12 isn’t necessary, and that the melatonin helps the most. I don’t give a rat’s ass. All I know is that it works…really well.
Good Night
If you’re having problems falling asleep, then you have to try what I recommended. Everybody is different, but I know for a fact that everything above works wonders for me.
What are your secrets to having a good night’s sleep? Leave a comment below and let me know.
Also, if you try the method above, comment and let me know how it goes! I read every one.
If this post helped you or interested you, feel free to share it on Facebook, Twitter, etc. The more people I can help fall asleep, the better (more sleep gives people more energy to kill it in the gym).