How Sleep Controls Your Hormones, Hunger, and Strength Gains
If there were one secret weapon for getting stronger, leaner, and healthier without doing more, it would be sleep.
Not a fancy supplement. Not a new workout program. Not a magic diet.
Just sleep.
Sleep is where recovery happens. Where hormones regulate. Where muscle grows. Where fat burning is optimized. It’s the most underrated part of the health equation, and it’s the one most people screw up—especially if you’re a parent, stressed, or always on the go.
I started really dialing in my sleep a little more than 5 years ago after having twins and it’s been a game changer.
How Poor Sleep Affects Your Hormones
Poor sleep doesn’t just make you tired. It messes with key hormones that impact how you feel, perform, and recover:
- Cortisol: Poor sleep increases cortisol, your body’s main stress hormone. This can make fat loss harder, increase cravings, and lead to muscle breakdown if it stays elevated.
- Testosterone: Sleep is where testosterone production peaks, especially for men. Low sleep = lower testosterone = harder to gain muscle, easier to gain fat.
- Insulin: Your body becomes more insulin resistant when you don’t sleep well, which means you process carbs less efficiently and store more fat.
- Leptin & Ghrelin: These regulate hunger. Poor sleep increases ghrelin (your hunger hormone) and decreases leptin (your fullness hormone), making it way easier to overeat.
What Sleep Does Right
- Repairs tissue and muscle
- Regulates mood and motivation
- Balances energy and blood sugar
- Enhances strength gains and recovery
- Helps your workouts actually work
When you prioritize sleep, you start to feel better, lift better, and see better results without changing anything else.
Real-Life Chaos: Our House at Night
With 3 kids, bedtime is not exactly a Zen-like wind down over here. Some nights someone is sick. Some nights there’s a meltdown. Some nights the dishwasher is leaking and nobody’s in bed before 10. But we aim for consistency:
- No phones after 8:30
- Wind-down reading or quiet time
- Cold, dark room
- Bed by 9:30-10 latest for us
- Wake up before the kids (if we’re lucky!)
It’s not perfect. But we prioritize it, because sleep affects everything else.
Doable Tips to Improve Your Sleep
- Set a consistent bedtime
- Go in bed to sleep not to watch tv or play on your phone
- Shut screens down 30-60 minutes before bed
- Use a fan or white noise for sleep support
- Avoid caffeine after 1pm
- Get sunlight in the morning and avoid bright light at night
- Don’t train too late at night if you can help it
Supplement Support (Talk to Your Doctor First)
- Magnesium L-Threonate
- Apigenin (found in chamomile)
- L-theanine (calming, found in green tea)
- Glycine
- Melatonin
I personally alternate between 5mg of melatonin one night and then ELMNT Triple Sleep which has magnesium, apigenin, and l-theanine as recommended by Huberman to help me get the best sleep each night.
Again, none of this replaces good habits, but it can help when you’re stuck in a poor sleep cycle.
If you want to feel better, lose weight, gain strength, reduce anxiety, and just show up better in your life, start with sleep.
Not more workouts. Not stricter diets. Just better sleep.
Take sleep seriously and you might be surprised how much easier the rest of your fitness journey becomes.
Book a free no sweat intro here and let’s build a plan together.
