Napping To Enhance Improvements In Strength And Muscle
I never liked supplements and being pressured to sell them while I was working at a gym was another level of hell.
Them - “It’s to help others”
Me - “It’s just another path to make money.”
Truly helping someone is giving them the knowledge that makes their lives better. This knowledge has to be easily digested and applicable. The more complex the more likely the individual using it will be overwhelmed and just throw it to the side. Supplements are meant to fill gaps in our nutrition or improve the function of our bodies to help us perform better. They are a catalyst for progress. One of the best catalysts, in my opinion…
That doesn’t need you to verify information on its production
That doesn’t take hours of analyzing peer-reviewed research
That doesn’t cost any money
Is the Nap.
Academy Story
It took a really bad weekend for me to look back on the things I had done in the past that have possibly contributed to some of my fitness success. I had forgotten this until recently but I remember that when I was at the Boat School and while I had been doing some of the moves out of Convict Conditioning, that I was taking naps after noon chow.
Our chow hall was huge and we were all well fed. After finishing my meal I would walk up to my room, jump in my rack, and set my alarm for about 20 to 25 minutes. Once this time was over it would be about time to put my shoes back on and head out for afternoon classes.
What Did This Nap Do For Me?
Alertness
Luckily I’m not going against the narrative this time so finding studies talking about the benefits of napping was easy to find. Napping enhances everything you do the rest of the day. Focus, learning, memorization, mood, you name it.
But don’t sleep too long or you’ll end up waking up in a daze wondering which alternate universe’ time-period you’re in. 15 to 25 minutes is a good length. Napping earlier in that day has been demonstrated in some research to improve one’s functionality much better than sleeping at a later time. So what this means is that if you can squeeze a nap in earlier around lunch try to prioritize it. But if you can only manage a short nap later in the day then that's fine. These naps are not designed to benefit just our alertness or mood.
Digestion
The main purpose of the nap as I had unknowingly used it in the past and as I’m now trying to use is in the assistance of my digestion. I wrote a previous article about ways to improve your digestion and forgot about napping at the time I wrote it. I did write about how relaxation is important while eating though. I then went on to say that walking after a meal has its benefits which it still does.
However, I’m now starting to rethink the role that walking after a meal does to digestion. Walking after a meal does…
Lower Blood Pressure
Regulates Blood Sugar
Promotes Weight Loss
But how does moving around and the blood flow moving around your body not hinder your digestion? Here you can see them listing digestion as one of the possible benefits of walking after a meal but when you scroll down they also say that it may cause an upset stomach. Why the contradiction? Well, if you look at the studies cited to suggest that walking after a meal improves digestion you’ll find something interesting.
All the studies that are cited are studies of general physical activity as it relates to irritable bowel syndrome. Not, walking after eating. Which is an important part I wish to bring to everybody's attention. Don’t just read the headline/title. Sometimes if you dig deep into whatever piece of literature you’re reading you’ll find that their methods were horrible, or that what they discovered is the complete opposite of what the title states.
Using some of the Maxick’s, Muscle Control philosophy the area that receives the highest concentration of blood for a short period of time receives the best benefit for growth in muscle and strength. Thinking about it in these terms, wouldn’t it be better that your digestion receive a higher concentration of blood following eating a meal and not your extremities?
Luckily, you can find some nutritionists that advocate this. How could I think walking would be better than napping in terms of digestion? Although I have been slimming down a great deal over the past few months I have not improved much in the realm of strength. Is this weight loss purely due to all my walking in the morning, evening, and after meals? Maybe. We should be able to find out on the next episode of Dragon Ball Z.
You can be in as high of a calorie surplus as you want. But, if you’re not digesting that food it's going in one hole and out the other.
Application
Napping or just lying down with your eyes looking up at the ceiling for just 10 minutes will provide your stomach enough time to get to work. It doesn’t have to be every day or every meal. Back at the Boat School, I was doing it just after noon chow. This improved utilization of the nutrients in the food I had just eaten. This was probably to blame for getting me up to where I was 20 pounds beefier than I am now. I don’t want it all back. I still want to be somewhat functional.
To start off just find two meals during the entire week where you can rest for a few minutes afterward. Just two. Take note of any improved body composition or improvements in your training. If you can, after a few weeks try to expand the number of times you do this within the week.
Wrap Up
From supplement companies, you will hear how we’re deprived of nutrients and we need whatever pills they're selling to reset the balance. Although some of these probably do help I believe they are a bandaid for a larger issue which is that we aren’t properly digesting our food.
Thank you for making it to the end and comments are below.
Until next time