Pillar Performance Triple Magnesium

I remember watching a Pro talk about this. He takes an ice bath before bed to help sleep. Maybe that's extreme so a longer cold shower or simple cold water bath? I take melatonin if I'm struggling to sleep. It's never impacted my workouts that I know of but I wouldn't take it before a race as a precaution.

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Glass of bourbon on the rocks.

Years ago when cannabis was being legalized someone posted on here that they didn't do edibles for recreation, but they did take a low dose edible to help sleep after brutal workouts / races when they would end up with restless legs.

   Just a couple of thoughts: Alot of older athletes have this problem. In general, exercise helps sleep but higher intensity can cause elevated cortisol and the inflammatory/cytokine cascade, leading to sleep trouble, reduced HRV temporarily, and less deep and REM sleep. You can read the studies on melatonin on reducing inflammatory cytokines after exercise. Generally it requires higher doses of 10-20 mg...sometimes even up to 50-100 mg. In neuroinflammation where the inflammation is detrimental neurologically, like in autism, even higher doses are being used. Thus far, we don't have any data or studies to suggest melatonin would reduce performance "down the road" and muscular adaption. We do have data that lack of quality sleep causes all sorts of problems :) AND affects performance. (hormones lowered, cytokines elevated further, insulin resistance, even higher cortisol, etc etc)

So a couple things to try: The supplement Lunasom by Desbio. Only minimal melatonin and it's possible the PS/gaba and herbs will lower cortisol. (in some people it does) Minimal side effects or trouble with morning brain fog/cognitive trouble. There are many on the market now similar to this but Lunasom is good quality. Then add in Magnesium. One option is Mag Complete by Klaire, and there are many others like Mag oxide, mag threonate. These are short acting and mostly help with sleep initiation. Most of the Mag supplements for sale are good quality as it is hard for humans to make this supplement toxic. Add in long acting melatonin. Regular melatonin only lasts 3-4 hours. Try Klaire brand Melatonin SR and work up the doses to 10 mg if Lunasom didn't help enough. Can have some morning fogginess since it can lasts 7-8 hr which generally subsides after a few nights. Trying taking more than 30 min before bed if AM fogginess is an issue/if you do morning workouts.

Neurobiofeedback/neuromodulation, if you have clinic near you. They can recommend a home device to help going to sleep or if wake up at night. Some people have lowered Beta 1 frequency and dysfunctional/excess delta and neurostimulation can then improve sleep/HRV. e.g. menopause, history of concussion, age, postLyme etc. (ideally a QEEG/ERP analysis though to determine)

Can also try CBD without THC, especially a brand that has a fair amount of CBN in it (better at reducing inflammation). Some of the recreational dispensaries can help you with this if you go that route and in some US states, you can buy CBN/CBD. Alot of olympic level athletes are using CBD/CBN for post workout inflammation, especially ointment on painful areas.

Another supplement that can help sleep/HRV is NAD. e.g. Nadovim is a good one. And NAD appears to help athletic performance among other things, but only in those who have depleted levels of NAD (like post COVID, post viral, lyme, overtraining syndrome, chemotherapy, advanced age etc). Wada is trying to restrict IV NAD since US FDA now universally allows compounded NAD.

And lastly, with "soreness and restless" that you describe, this is the one thing ice plunge/warm bath/sauna/hot tub "contrast therapy" claim helps. Jury is still out on this. Might be something to try with ice bags in a tub, followed by warm bath/sauna/hottub, especially add in Epsom Salt to bath. No clear studies yet that it increases performance or reduces inflammation, but it is used by alot of athletes and biohackers. Alot of us at Lahti 70.3 Worlds in Finland were in hotels that offered this.


Bill

Magnesium before bed does actually help , plus lavender spray on your pillow, knocks me straight out

I can fall asleep immediately after a swim.

I can relate. When that happens to me I just try to relax and tell myself that I'll make up the sleep in the next couple of nights.

Something seems off it a son 3, 30 min run, impacts you for the entire rest of the day

Have you thought about slowing down ?

I set my bedroom temp to 64. Seems to help with better sleep

As an older athlete I too have difficulty getting a good night's sleep on days when I have had a hard training session. I find that one Panadol (half dose Paracetamol) improves my sleep quality.

You can also try taking a shower or bath before bed. Your core body temperature will rise due to the warm water. Once you get out, your body temp will decrease thus activating our bodies natural sleep signals. There's a great book out there called "Why We Sleep" by Matthew Walker, PhD. Not only does it provide some fascinating points about sleep, he also provides some helpful non-pharmaceutical tips.

15 minutes evening walk and some breathing exercises

Lol aka Pillar Performance Triple Price Magnesium

I bought a weighted blanket a couple of years ago. For me it was a complete game changer. My problem wasn't so much falling asleep, but sleeping too shallow and waking frequently. Getting a much more restful sleep, and waking with more energy and no more "brain fog." They are a bit expensive, and if you overheat, it might be counterproductive.