We’ve all heard the old adage – “early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise”. Well now you can add one more item to that list – increases androgen receptor sensitivity. 

 In fact the mysterious “biological clock” that some would have you believe doesn’t really exist, its formal name – the Suprachiasmatic Nuclei (SCN) – lies deep in the brain right above the bridge of the nose, and is alive and ticking.

 Evidence now exists that its contribution to our daily wellbeing is greater than once thought. It controls the rhythm of our brain and body; through hormone messengers as well as direct neuronal connection to organs, it prepares the body for the oncoming day. At night while we sleep, hormones play like the instruments in a well-orchestrated symphony.

 Deprivation or disruption of normal sleep patterns turns the hormonal symphony into the nightmarish calliope sounds of a bad horror movie. Hormones fire in incorrect sequences – some too much and others not enough.

 We already know that these sleep disruptions, if allowed to occur with regularity over long periods of time, lead to various diseases. What has recently been illustrated is that it may be the disruption of the SCN that heralds the onset of metabolic syndrome as well.

 Through communication and feedback from the Paraventricular Nucleus of the Hypothalamus, the SCN establishes what systems need priming and which need to shut down based upon the 24-hour circadian rhythm. It produces the surges of testosterone experienced by men as well as the pulses of estrogen in women.

 What is possibly more pertinent is that the SCN not only orchestrates the production of hormones but also establishes receptor sensitivity. Those same sleep disruptions may impair the ability of hormones to make their appropriate and desired contributions to health, muscle gains and recovery.

 Lets assume one is on an anabolic steroid cycle and is not getting adequate sleep. The potential benefits of that cycle may not be realized due to the lack of fine-tuning that the SCN bestows on the androgen receptor as it goes through it phases during sleep.

 Many of us feel that high doses of anabolic steroids allow us to, or perhaps, give us license to push the recovery envelope and thus train hard and stay up very late at night – day-after-day. This attitude may be counterproductive in the long run. This lifestyle may lead to less-than-desirable side effects such as glucose management issues, thyroid issues as well as poor muscle development and recovery.

 For the natural athlete this type of physical abuse is a formula for disaster. Periods of illness, injury and regress instead of progress are assured.

 The human being is hardwired to sleep when it gets dark and awake when it gets light. Our ancestors, before electric light, lived this way. Modern technology eats into this valuable sleep time by allowing us to stay up late, watching TV or working on the computer. Regardless of your reason for doing it – your body wants to go to sleep when darkness occurs.

 Years of pushing these natural urges back so you can stay up later creates an unsynchronized SCN. Based upon my research and personal experience, you can resynchronize the SCN – but it takes between 2 and 6 months depending upon your level of disruption. The health and performance benefits are astounding. Here’s an experiments that you can try at home.

 Look on the Internet for the sunrise / sunset schedule for your city. I use sunsetsunrise.com. Plug in your city and look for the Civil Twilight sunrise and sunset times. Now prepare to get into bed within an hour of when the sun sets which should be precisely the Civil Twilight time depending upon your geographic location. You can use some melatonin if you can’t fall asleep quickly. If you use melatonin take it around 30 to 45 minutes prior to planned bedtime.

 Leave the blinds in your bedroom opened so the daylight can come in as the sun rises in the morning. This will allow you to awake very peacefully. If this is not practical and you need to set an alarm to synchronize waking up with the sunrise, then do so. Once you get out of bed immediately go to the window or outside and let the daylight hit your face – eyes open. This is key as this causes the retina to release GABA, which shuts down melatonin production and establishes the period of activity for the SCN, which primes systems responsible for locomotion like the thyroid and adrenals for the ensuing tasks. Indoor light will not accomplish this phenomenon, as the required wavelengths are present only in outdoor daylight.

 After doing this for a couple weeks you should start to feel different. More alert during the day, a sense of wellbeing, fewer mood swings, greater energy, less difficulty controlling hunger and stabilization of the diurnal rhythm of blood pressure are but a few benefits. After doing it for a couple months these changes will become more permanently encoded. You will also notice that you automatically feel tired when the sun goes down – the way you did when you were a child.

 Reestablishing this rhythm is good for overall health and age-management. It will also aid you in making better gains and recover faster from training. It will not, however, make you very popular with your friends.

References

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