The “ZZZ” playbook for MORE muscle
At 11pm, two versions of me always show up.
11pm version of me: “One more episode, then we’ll sleep. Maybe a bowl of cereal. Maybe two.”
7am version of me: “Please don’t. We’ve got squats in the morning.”
For the first three years I trained seriously, 11pm me won. I lifted hard, tracked my food, even did the sad stair-master walks - but I slept like a raccoon in a bin. Late sessions. Blue lit scrolling. Red eye flights that turned me into airport furniture. Then I’d stare in the mirror and wonder why progress stalled.
Here’s what I wish someone had told me then: sleep is not a bonus. Sleep is the most anabolic thing you can actually do nightly without the use of steroids. I didn’t learn that from a study. I learned it the night I finally fired that 11pm version of me.
The night everything felt different
It was a Tuesday. Training had been fine, not special. I’d already told myself the lie (early night, 100%) and was mid scroll when I forced myself to put my phone down, showered and slept asap.
I made it stupidly simple:
Brush teeth → hot shower → open a real book.
Bedroom set to cold without duvet, cosy under it.
Night mode on everything. Phone on the other side of the room like it owed me money.
I woke up before my alarm feeling… bliss. Squats moved like they’d been unchained. The pump felt crazy. Hunger was quieter. Nothing else changed - same program, same macros - except sleep.
I ran that exact night on repeat for a week. PRs didn’t rain from the sky, but everything felt 10-15% easier. Which, if you care about lifting, is HUGE.
Jet-lag, gremlins and the “coach in my ear” trick
Fast forward: I’m on a late flight with multiple crying babies, landing at stupid o’clock. Old me would white knuckle the next day with coffee IV and a heroic failure of a leg day. New me plays boring but unbeatable:
Morning light the next day (even if it’s cloudy, even if I look dead).
Short walk, moderate training only, no PR hunting.
Two meals before I even consider sleep.
Same cool, dark and quiet cave at night.
If the 11pm gremlin whispers, I literally say out loud: “Not tonight.” Then I brush teeth. Brushing is my “scene change” - once the mint hits, I’m done eating.
Is it glamorous? Not really. Does it save my lifts? Every time.
“But I’m a night owl”
Me too! Here’s how I tricked myself without pretending I’m in bed at 6pm like a Victorian child:
I slid bedtime 30 minutes earlier every few nights, not all at once.
I set a wind down alarm (mine says “close the laptop or lose tomorrow”).
I made the bed a two thing zone: sleep and… extracurricular activities. Work and scrolling happen anywhere else.
Not perfect. Just better. And “better” compounds.
Final word from 7 am Me
Sleep is not glamorous. It doesn’t look good in a Instagram reel. But it’s the difference between working hard and getting paid for the work. If you want help setting this up around real life - shift work, travel, the 11-pm gremlins, that’s literally what my coaching is for: train hard, sleep smart, eat like a human and let the results stack.
