5 to 6 hours sleep,is it enough.

[brit-iron]

its been the average for me for years,thing is they say you should be getting 8/9 hours sleep a night,am i not going to make good gains on 5/6 hours?
thing is by the time ive got my kids to settle down,and then got myself ready its around 11pm,now i'm not the sort of person that can just shut off and fall asleep in 5 mins,takes me around an hour to drift off so on average i'l get to sleep around 12pm.i usualy wake around 5/6am,even when i don't set my alarm at weekends.i have to get up for work at 6.30am.
and i never nap in the day.i'm not strugling with my workouts or anything,and feel ok.and making small progress in weight lifted.been at it for 10 months.
so is it realy that important,or am i wasting my time?there's no way i'm gonna get 8/9 hours in.any of you guys/gals get make good progress on this amount of sleep.?
thanks.

hope this hasn't sent you to sleep.

[rbdwarf]

The amount of sleep you need is a personal thing. I need 9-10 hours a night, if I get 8/night then, after a couple of days, I start getting grumpy and sleepy and dopey. It doesn't make me happy or bashful or sneezy (luckily!).

As long as you're not tired during the day and you wake up without needing large amounts of caffeine then you're probably OK.

--
Rob

[Ctrainer]

Originally Posted by brit-iron

its been the average for me for years,thing is they say you should be getting 8/9 hours sleep a night,am i not going to make good gains on 5/6 hours?
thing is by the time ive got my kids to settle down,and then got myself ready its around 11pm,now i'm not the sort of person that can just shut off and fall asleep in 5 mins,takes me around an hour to drift off so on average i'l get to sleep around 12pm.i usualy wake around 5/6am,even when i don't set my alarm at weekends.i have to get up for work at 6.30am.
and i never nap in the day.i'm not strugling with my workouts or anything,and feel ok.and making small progress in weight lifted.been at it for 10 months.
so is it realy that important,or am i wasting my time?there's no way i'm gonna get 8/9 hours in.any of you guys/gals get make good progress on this amount of sleep.?
thanks.

hope this hasn't sent you to sleep.

I fall asleep the minute my heads hits the pillow..I need atleast 7/8 hours to survive. Why do you think you can't fall asleep right away?

[brit-iron]

Originally Posted by Ctrainer

I fall asleep the minute my heads hits the pillow..I need atleast 7/8 hours to survive. Why do you think you can't fall asleep right away?

well i just seem to find it hard to shut off,i always think about stuff.and just feel a bit restless,fidgity.

[brit-iron]

Originally Posted by rbdwarf

The amount of sleep you need is a personal thing. I need 9-10 hours a night, if I get 8/night then, after a couple of days, I start getting grumpy and sleepy and dopey. It doesn't make me happy or bashful or sneezy (luckily!).

As long as you're not tired during the day and you wake up without needing large amounts of caffeine then you're probably OK.

--
Rob

never realy needed anything to get me going.just wanted to know if its poss to make good gains on less sleep realy.thing is before i had kids i was getting 8 hours,i think iv'e just got used to having less.

[brit-iron]

i tried millenium somnidren a couple months back,says it increases sleep quality and combats stress,and i didn't get a wink of sleep!

[yakabebe]

Originally Posted by brit-iron

its been the average for me for years,thing is they say you should be getting 8/9 hours sleep a night,am i not going to make good gains on 5/6 hours?
thing is by the time ive got my kids to settle down,and then got myself ready its around 11pm,now i'm not the sort of person that can just shut off and fall asleep in 5 mins,takes me around an hour to drift off so on average i'l get to sleep around 12pm.i usualy wake around 5/6am,even when i don't set my alarm at weekends.i have to get up for work at 6.30am.
and i never nap in the day.i'm not strugling with my workouts or anything,and feel ok.and making small progress in weight lifted.been at it for 10 months.
so is it realy that important,or am i wasting my time?there's no way i'm gonna get 8/9 hours in.any of you guys/gals get make good progress on this amount of sleep.?
thanks.

hope this hasn't sent you to sleep.

FWIW - there is sleep medication called Imovane - prescription

Its mechanism will assist you to naturally enmesh yourself with a reliable and natural diurnal rhythm and get between 7 - 8 hrs sleep

Almost NIL side effects other than an undisturbed sleep

Worth a shot

[brit-iron]

Originally Posted by yakabebe

FWIW - there is sleep medication called Imovane - prescription

Its mechanism will assist you to naturally enmesh yourself with a reliable and natural diurnal rhythm and get between 7 - 8 hrs sleep

Almost NIL side effects other than an undisturbed sleep

Worth a shot

cheers,yeah i could go to the docs.i wasn't going to,but it would be nice to get to sleep quicker,i'l make a note of that and see if my doc will let me try it.thanks.
do you think it will be hard to make good gains on 5/6 hours then?

[chodan9]

7.5 minimum for me = optional functioning.
I usually get that but when I don't, I will sleep in on weekends to supplement it a bit.
I take melatonin to keep my sleep patterns consistent,and hour before bedtime.

[fibesdrummer]

Originally Posted by aneas

I only sleep 6 hours a night and do fine. I take naps when I can on the weekends.

Im kind of with you. .....although...I DO suffer from poor QUALITY of sleep....

I watch Seinfled on my mini-dvd player and Im out in like 5 minutes...never make it through an episode....plus its fun laughing myself to sleep!

[colosus88]

Originally Posted by brit-iron

its been the average for me for years,thing is they say you should be getting 8/9 hours sleep a night,am i not going to make good gains on 5/6 hours?
thing is by the time ive got my kids to settle down,and then got myself ready its around 11pm,now i'm not the sort of person that can just shut off and fall asleep in 5 mins,takes me around an hour to drift off so on average i'l get to sleep around 12pm.i usualy wake around 5/6am,even when i don't set my alarm at weekends.i have to get up for work at 6.30am.
and i never nap in the day.i'm not strugling with my workouts or anything,and feel ok.and making small progress in weight lifted.been at it for 10 months.
so is it realy that important,or am i wasting my time?there's no way i'm gonna get 8/9 hours in.any of you guys/gals get make good progress on this amount of sleep.?
thanks.

hope this hasn't sent you to sleep.

I'm in the same boat - takes me an hour to fall asleep at best even if I'm tired. I end up with 4-5 hours sleep. So for the past two years I was using Ambien CR which helped dramatically and I was getting a good 6-8 hours sleep. But I hate taking prescription drugs - especially that regularly so I tried ZMA. It took a week or two but I have stopped taking Ambien entirely and get great sleep now - a good 8-10 hours.

Even with less than 8-10 hours sleep, I don;t think it affected my gain too much. But I feel less beat up if I get more hours sleep.

[x-trainer ben]

Originally Posted by brit-iron

its been the average for me for years,thing is they say you should be getting 8/9 hours sleep a night,am i not going to make good gains on 5/6 hours?
thing is by the time ive got my kids to settle down,and then got myself ready its around 11pm,now i'm not the sort of person that can just shut off and fall asleep in 5 mins,takes me around an hour to drift off so on average i'l get to sleep around 12pm.i usualy wake around 5/6am,even when i don't set my alarm at weekends.i have to get up for work at 6.30am.
and i never nap in the day.i'm not strugling with my workouts or anything,and feel ok.and making small progress in weight lifted.been at it for 10 months.
so is it realy that important,or am i wasting my time?there's no way i'm gonna get 8/9 hours in.any of you guys/gals get make good progress on this amount of sleep.?
thanks.

hope this hasn't sent you to sleep.

You asked: am i not going to make good gains on 5/6 hours?
Your gains will not be optimal as the last 2-3 hours seems to be where alot of the repair work is done. It is not an all or nothing situation here.

you said: i'm not strugling with my workouts or anything,and feel ok.and making small progress in weight lifted.been at it for 10 months.

Perhaps with more rest you will see faster progress in the next 10 months.

[brit-iron]

thanks guys for the advice.always good to here other's take on this.

i must have bored someone with this thread,coz i gone from positive to negative in an hour.maybe i should have used the search or something.

[KDHunter]

I get about 6 but do the cat nap thing.. It's all about you and your body.. No real answer to this, it's individual.

[chodan9]

Originally Posted by brit-iron

thanks guys for the advice.always good to here other's take on this.

i must have bored someone with this thread,coz i gone from positive to negative in an hour.maybe i should have used the search or something.

gotcha covered

probably a post in powerlifting or the teen forum.
they are free'er with the negs there.

[brit-iron]

Originally Posted by chodan9

gotcha covered

probably a post in powerlifting or the teen forum.
they are free'er with the negs there.

nice one chodan thanks,someone negged me with the comment (sleep more).well yeah like i never thought of that.with my kids thats nearly impossible,and i gotta go to work early.i was only realy asking if it possible to make good gains on less.
nice to know that some of you guys are making good gains on minimal sleep,and thanks for your input.
i think because i'm new to bodybuilding,maybe i was expecting gains a bit quicker.but i'm def in it for the long haul.

[shlape]

Originally Posted by rbdwarf

I need 9-10 hours a night, if I get 8/night then, after a couple of days, I start getting grumpy and sleepy and dopey.

Originally Posted by colosus88

It took a week or two but I have stopped taking Ambien entirely and get great sleep now - a good 8-10 hours.

I suddenly don't feel so bad.
Approx. 9hrs/nite for me, but, unashamedly, I've had the odd 12hr marathon. I guess my body just needed it. Ultimately the amount needed is personal.

[partsRheavy]

No. Try to get 7 hours. Work up from a consistent 6 hours to 7. Gains should improve, assuming you're eating right.

Schedule your time to allow 7 hours of sleep, consistently. 8 is optimum but 7 is a lot better than 5 or 6.

[Taichichuan]

Originally Posted by partsRheavy

No. Try to get 7 hours. Work up from a consistent 6 hours to 7. Gains should improve, assuming you're eating right.

Schedule your time to allow 7 hours of sleep, consistently. 8 is optimum but 7 is a lot better than 5 or 6.

You are absolutely right! At least 7 hours of sleep is necessary for the body to recover and to heal itself.

[Reality_Check]

I could never get by on 6/7 hours. I need 8/9. Unless I go for an extended period of not working out, then I can get by on 6/7 OK. I don't know what other people need though. If you're feeling sleep depreived on 6/7 you need more sleep, if not you don't, is how I see it.

[Klayfish]

You have to do the best with what you're given, i.e. the circumstances of your life. For MrsKlayfish and I, 8 hours of sleep a night is not a reality. By time we get home from work, have dinner, spend time with the kids, clean up, prepare for the next day, put the kids to bed, etc...it's already 9:30pm. That's before we even sit down to read a magazine for a few minutes or watch any TV. So we may go to bed around 10:00pm. We get up at 4:20am every morning. That's the only realistic time in the day for us to workout. So 6.5 hours of sleep is our average during the week. On the weekends, we may get 8 hours, as we can sleep until 6:30am, when the kids wake up. So when the opportunity presents itself, we'll try to take a nap on the weekends for about 90 minutes, when the kids are all resting.

Are we tired by the end of the week? Hell yeah. Does it hurt the gains we may get? I guess. But we're doing the best with what we've got.

[GuyJin]

While it would be nice to get the average of eight hours in of solid sleep, sometimes that isn't possible. I usually get into bed at 11, fall asleep at 11:30, wake up between 5 and 5:30, but sometimes earlier. If I can, I take a nap during my free work periods for an hour; if not, then not. Even if it is supposedly hurting my gains (and I'm not that sure it is) it's something I can't change (at the present); I just do the best I can.

[JoeyDoyle2]

Originally Posted by aneas

I only sleep 6 hours a night and do fine. I take naps when I can on the weekends.

thats what I do to...catching a nap now and then really helps me

[brit-iron]

Originally Posted by Klayfish

You have to do the best with what you're given, i.e. the circumstances of your life. For MrsKlayfish and I, 8 hours of sleep a night is not a reality. By time we get home from work, have dinner, spend time with the kids, clean up, prepare for the next day, put the kids to bed, etc...it's already 9:30pm. That's before we even sit down to read a magazine for a few minutes or watch any TV. So we may go to bed around 10:00pm. We get up at 4:20am every morning. That's the only realistic time in the day for us to workout. So 6.5 hours of sleep is our average during the week. On the weekends, we may get 8 hours, as we can sleep until 6:30am, when the kids wake up. So when the opportunity presents itself, we'll try to take a nap on the weekends for about 90 minutes, when the kids are all resting.

Are we tired by the end of the week? Hell yeah. Does it hurt the gains we may get? I guess. But we're doing the best with what we've got.

yeah this is it exactly,would be nice to get a solid 7/8 hours,but it just ain't possible yet.
like you say,you do the best with what you got.

[brit-iron]

Originally Posted by GuyJin

While it would be nice to get the average of eight hours in of solid sleep, sometimes that isn't possible. I usually get into bed at 11, fall asleep at 11:30, wake up between 5 and 5:30, but sometimes earlier. If I can, I take a nap during my free work periods for an hour; if not, then not. Even if it is supposedly hurting my gains (and I'm not that sure it is) it's something I can't change (at the present); I just do the best I can.

yes this is it,nice to know that you don't think its hurting your gains.thanks

[CTDeuce]

Originally Posted by brit-iron

i tried millenium somnidren a couple months back,says it increases sleep quality and combats stress,and i didn't get a wink of sleep!

how long did you try it for bud? For the first week some users have to allow for the product to fully work into your system because of the way it works with your body.

[JC480]

brit-iron

One of the symptoms of depression is the mind racing before sleep. Not sure if depression is an issue or not for you...just a factoid...disregard if it doesn't apply to you.

[adrewl22]

i work well with 7. 8 is boring. 9 hours i get grumpy. 5-6 i get grumpy or sleepy.

[thor93]

Originally Posted by rbdwarf

The amount of sleep you need is a personal thing. I need 9-10 hours a night, if I get 8/night then, after a couple of days, I start getting grumpy and sleepy and dopey. It doesn't make me happy or bashful or sneezy (luckily!).

As long as you're not tired during the day and you wake up without needing large amounts of caffeine then you're probably OK.

--
Rob

x2..Good points..It's something that varies from individual to individiual, just like anything else in life.

When i have to start work at 8am every sunday,i am thrown off course or off track if you will and i dont have sufficient time to readjust myself and my natural sleep hour time period pattern and such..So,basically, i wind up getting 5-5-1/2 hours of sleep and this is NOT a good thing.The feeling in the morning where i have to yank myself out of bed is indescribably miserable,and allthough i DO adjust and my head is clear and my body is fine for a good while into my shift , when there is about an hour or so left in my shift , i am thinking of nothing except a relaxing & refreshing shower and a blissfull 3 hour nap once i get done with the shift. ; )

Normally,the other six days of the week where my hours are 5pm till closing,i usually sleep around 9 hours,give or take 10-15 minutes.Sleep is Awesome ! One of the greatest and most blissfull experiences of human life ! LOL. ; )

[Capnwilliam]

It isn't enough for me. But each person has to answer the question for themselves. Four hours might be enough for some people. Nine hours might not be enough for others.