JohnDoeman
Level 3 Valued Member
To truly explain my previous situation and its resolution, I must begin back when I was enlisted in the Marine Corps.
Due to the guidance of the senior enlisted (i.e. Sergeants and Corporals) I decided that it would be a good thing to begin body-building. I devoted myself for about eight-weeks and packed on 20lbs, probably 95% of it lean muscle. I used the very first NO2 supplement and those Isopure protein drinks and it created some serious results. I was naively happy about the results, until I realized that running was now 100 times more difficult (I had done zero the entire eight-weeks) and pull-ups were still do-able but much harder due to the added weight. I unfortunately got lazy and packed on another 10-15lbs to top me out at about 200lbs. I initially weighed about 170lbs (give or take 5lbs depending on the day) and was unable to lose the weight again no matter how I tried. This all happened before my first enlistment of four-years ended. I spent eight-years total in the Marine Corps.
After I packed on that mass I started to gradually and imperceptibly become more fatigued. As a Marine, the natural reaction to fatigue is to suck down Monsters and coffee, which only worked for a short time. I did not stop consuming caffeine because I was certain it was helping. Apparently, I spent my entire second enlistment suffering from sleep apnea and not knowing it. The sleep apnea being a result of my naive bodybuilding goals. I was not actually diagnosed until a year after my enlistment ended. So for five years I alternated between terrible sleep and excessive consumption of caffeine. I ended my Marine Corps career due to my crushing fatigue and not really knowing why. Looking back, I could have easily retired if it weren't for that one stupid decision.
Once I received my CPAP to help my sleep apnea I thought I would start feeling way more rested. I did research and found that it does take a while to get rid of residual tiredness. Yet, about 6 years later from being diagnosed I was still insanely fatigued. I seemed to have trouble recovering from workouts, had low testosterone, still gained more weight (50 more pounds!) despite my efforts to the contrary, suffered from frequent heart-burn (almost everything I ate gave me heart-burn!), had a terrible short-term memory, and just generally had a bad attitude and short fuze. Needless to say I was a different person entirely, and not a good one.
After all these years of trying to find out what was causing the issue, I kept on sucking down tons of caffeine and coffee (I also took a lot of sleep aids to force myself to fall asleep). It wasn't until literlly about a month ago that I finally came to the epiphany about what was also contributing to my sleep problems. Thus began a rather difficult month of weening myself off of caffeine. I used a lot of naps and B-Complex vitamins to get through my days while I was weening.
Imagine a scale in your mind, while I reduced my caffeine, my sleep became better. My CPAP was actually able to do its job and I began to wake up more rested and with more energy. Nearly all the issues I was experiencing have all but dissipated. I say nearly because my added weight will take much more time to lose, but I feel now that I now have an actual fighting chance to lose it. I have experimented a few times to see just how much the caffeine effects me and I find that if I consume even 150mg of caffeine, I will have trouble sleeping even 16 hours later. I now treat caffeine or coffee as a "treat" that I may have on a weekend and abstain the rest of the time. I find I have far more energy, focus, and am in a better mood without it. Overall, I was not stressed out from lack of sleep, adding more stress from caffeine, then adding even more stress from my workouts.
This is your cautionary tale. If you find something similar happening to you. Please learn from my mistakes and (1) do not chase hypertrophy and big muscles and (2) lay off the caffeine. If you say that caffeine does not affect your sleep, your wrong. If you are looking to improve your recovery and performance on workouts, abstaining from caffeine will be your best course of action. Better sleep should be your ultimate goal. If you already know all this then disregard. But those of you who do not, please take heed.
Due to the guidance of the senior enlisted (i.e. Sergeants and Corporals) I decided that it would be a good thing to begin body-building. I devoted myself for about eight-weeks and packed on 20lbs, probably 95% of it lean muscle. I used the very first NO2 supplement and those Isopure protein drinks and it created some serious results. I was naively happy about the results, until I realized that running was now 100 times more difficult (I had done zero the entire eight-weeks) and pull-ups were still do-able but much harder due to the added weight. I unfortunately got lazy and packed on another 10-15lbs to top me out at about 200lbs. I initially weighed about 170lbs (give or take 5lbs depending on the day) and was unable to lose the weight again no matter how I tried. This all happened before my first enlistment of four-years ended. I spent eight-years total in the Marine Corps.
After I packed on that mass I started to gradually and imperceptibly become more fatigued. As a Marine, the natural reaction to fatigue is to suck down Monsters and coffee, which only worked for a short time. I did not stop consuming caffeine because I was certain it was helping. Apparently, I spent my entire second enlistment suffering from sleep apnea and not knowing it. The sleep apnea being a result of my naive bodybuilding goals. I was not actually diagnosed until a year after my enlistment ended. So for five years I alternated between terrible sleep and excessive consumption of caffeine. I ended my Marine Corps career due to my crushing fatigue and not really knowing why. Looking back, I could have easily retired if it weren't for that one stupid decision.
Once I received my CPAP to help my sleep apnea I thought I would start feeling way more rested. I did research and found that it does take a while to get rid of residual tiredness. Yet, about 6 years later from being diagnosed I was still insanely fatigued. I seemed to have trouble recovering from workouts, had low testosterone, still gained more weight (50 more pounds!) despite my efforts to the contrary, suffered from frequent heart-burn (almost everything I ate gave me heart-burn!), had a terrible short-term memory, and just generally had a bad attitude and short fuze. Needless to say I was a different person entirely, and not a good one.
After all these years of trying to find out what was causing the issue, I kept on sucking down tons of caffeine and coffee (I also took a lot of sleep aids to force myself to fall asleep). It wasn't until literlly about a month ago that I finally came to the epiphany about what was also contributing to my sleep problems. Thus began a rather difficult month of weening myself off of caffeine. I used a lot of naps and B-Complex vitamins to get through my days while I was weening.
Imagine a scale in your mind, while I reduced my caffeine, my sleep became better. My CPAP was actually able to do its job and I began to wake up more rested and with more energy. Nearly all the issues I was experiencing have all but dissipated. I say nearly because my added weight will take much more time to lose, but I feel now that I now have an actual fighting chance to lose it. I have experimented a few times to see just how much the caffeine effects me and I find that if I consume even 150mg of caffeine, I will have trouble sleeping even 16 hours later. I now treat caffeine or coffee as a "treat" that I may have on a weekend and abstain the rest of the time. I find I have far more energy, focus, and am in a better mood without it. Overall, I was not stressed out from lack of sleep, adding more stress from caffeine, then adding even more stress from my workouts.
This is your cautionary tale. If you find something similar happening to you. Please learn from my mistakes and (1) do not chase hypertrophy and big muscles and (2) lay off the caffeine. If you say that caffeine does not affect your sleep, your wrong. If you are looking to improve your recovery and performance on workouts, abstaining from caffeine will be your best course of action. Better sleep should be your ultimate goal. If you already know all this then disregard. But those of you who do not, please take heed.