Build muscle with ATHLEAN-X by getting every aspect of your training right
Most guys watch youtube videos on how to build muscle, and focus on the right workouts, best exercises and the meal plans to do it. The problem is, even if you get all of these things right, you still can ruin your hard work by messing up the anabolic window you get during sleep.
Sleep is the time during your day that you do the most muscle building. Yes, you do stimulate muscle growth with what you do during your workout, but the actual anabolic process occurs at night when you rest.
As I explain in this video, your natural growth hormone release occurs in peak amounts during your deep REM sleep. Failing to get a restful night’s sleep can sacrifice your ability to enter adequate deep sleep and severely limit your ability to build muscle. Beyond that, proper protein supplementation just before bed can help enormously in the pursuit of building muscle. Having the faster acting whey protein available to take advantage of the initial release of growth hormone and then following it with the slower acting casein protein is key for speeding up the process of building muscle.
In fact, poor pre-sleep nutrition and inadequate sleep are so important to muscle growth and size gains that even the best workout can be undone by not getting this right. That said, the best plan for you to build the most muscle is to sleep 6, 7 and a half, or 9 hours per night while making sure to take a blend of whey and casein protein just before bed.
Get your sleep right and you’ll find that your workouts will become that much more productive (as long as you’re not overtraining) and building muscle size will become easier. For a complete workout and nutrition program that provides you with a plan to get these results without sacrificing your recovery, then check out the ATHLEAN-X program at
For more videos on how to build muscle and burn fat at the same time, be sure to subscribe to our channel here on youtube at
49 comments
Great insight. Still relevant today. Thanks Jeff!
I'm watching this after being awake all night. Awkward
Isn't casein extremely inflammatory?
I guess my gains are in deep shit as it’s 6:38 AM and i’m still awake
what happens if you wake up to pee like 2 or 3 times a night at about every 2.5 hours
Looking at the age of this vid its gutting to know i didn't see him sooner! 😧
Bruh I have trouble sleeping when I want, but thanks anyways
This is fkn awesome
Jeff, Can you get more of a boost if you wake up like every 1.5 to 2 hours and going back to sleep. Get more of that big hump you speak of
9 hours of sleep? aint nobody got time for that. 7-8 max. arnold said 6 is enough if you just sleep faster.
This video has helped me a lot……
that's a thing that MOST LIKELY you have. Sorry homeless, no GAINZ for ya!
Jeff always have a weird answer lol
Me trying so hard working out to gain muscle and watching this now at 4:21AM laying stoned on bed. Noice
I took that white board to bed.
Hi sorry to be ‘that guy’ but deep sleep and rem sleep are not the same thing… deep sleep is stages 1-4 and rem sleep is stage 5. Deep sleep is where GH is highest and there is much more deep sleep in the first 4/5 hours of a sleep, towards the end of the sleep is more REM sleep. Smh…
6 yrs now jeff❤❤
always heard 1.5-2.5 hour cycles, but who knows? excited getting back into training again.
Nice. I’m quitting the gym and sleeping all day long for my gains from now on!
I’m stopping by to say I’m here 7 years later
Bruh it’s 1am and I need to wake up 5am 😭
Its 2020 lol
Just service your Woman & your side-pieces. Burns calories & a helluva lot of fun😂
All this time I’ve been getting 7 hrs when I should’ve done 7 1/2 hrs thanks bro
Sounds amazing any chance you can teach my 2 yr old to respect my sleep cycle.
U the best
Jeff talks about taking fast release protein pre first sleep cycle, but how long before? I'm assuming an hour as he also suggested not drinking within an hour of going to sleep… 🤔
Should cover external forces such as light background noises.
it's 3 am, I should go to work out now with this new technique
Just mix whey in milk before sleeping. Fast protien from whey and slow milk
Sleep is key so many people screw this up and sabotage their gains!
and you know guys you have to sleep until failure
For those that have Fitbits, I've noticed that I can set a alarm that can wake me up half an hour before my alarm clock if I'm already out of a deep sleep cycle I think.
Lmao fuck man, i workout so that i can mainstain a shitty sleep schedule and drink a lot. like right now as i watch this, sipping some tequila right after the gym tonight, oh well lol
It’s 2021 and I found this gem
I'm eight years too late headass, but whats that outro song?
Awesome!!!! This is gonna change my life!!!!
Thank you!!!!
Jeff Cavaliere. Time passes but your soul remains young and pure your body your stainless structure great wisdom 💝💝🙏💯
I understood it by chance while eating two eggs before sleep for a couple of days instead of eating them in the morning as I didn't really feel into eating anything but my protien shake in the morning and I felt full. Then I noticed firm muscles in a couple of days! Though I have been training for two years but whenever I am stressed muscles melt like a piece of butter on fire as if I am not doing anything. The turning point was when I started eating eggs or drinking shake again before bed. I saw the difference and started digging science to make sure what's happening! So Now by experience and scientifically based protien is magic if you take it before bed!
this guy is goku irl
Thank you for this info ✊🏻
Athlean-x, if I know that going to bed earlier makes me feel much better than going to bed late at night, is there an "early time" that you recommend for those who know they feel more fresh and fit when getting to sleep early? Any reply, I'd be grateful. Keep up the great work! God bless
Ahh so this was how Jeff looked liked
Old school Athlean-X
Thank You for taking the time to help explain this valuable information! Thank You!
I tried reconstrucxion (the night time recovery supplement) for the first time last night. I was dead tired yesterday man I thought I was gonna get up sore and tired as hell. I set my alarm for 7 hrs of sleep but I got up without the alarm after 6 hrs of sleep. I do have soreness but it's nothing I can't handle. I don't feel fatigued. Usually if I trained and worked like yesterday, I would've been feeling like shit by now. I know this. 100%. This was my first time. I'll keep commenting after further use for other viewers' experience.
Put the captions on, pause at 17 seconds, and read what Jeff is a pro at.
He talks about his Reconstruxion RX-3 supplement as a great pre-sleep supplement because of the whey and casein content. But RX-3 doesn't have any protein in it! Did it used to?
yup…1 and a half hours per cycle is exactly correct and timing your sleep hours accordingly in that cycle is absolutely optimum. 7.5 hours in my opinion is the sweet spot