About SLEEP - You will be shocked.

[startupboss]

good read

[StylesOfBeyond]

Well, this is weird. I actually dreamt about this thread last night....Agumon, you have some kind of mind control going?

[Agumon]

So this kind of explains Sleep Paralysis to? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis Waking up during REM so you cant move but you can see, I've never experienced this, just read about it.

Very interesting, I'll give it a more thorough read later on, thanks!

Dam this thread, after reading the part before i went 2 sleep where your body goes 2 different sleep modes/patterns i had nightmares for some reason all night and i couldnt sleep...tsk tsk

LOL, I think you're reading it too hard bro !

Well, this is weird. I actually dreamt about this thread last night....Agumon, you have some kind of mind control going?

Yes......... But shhhh, I'll release your mind if you don't report me!

[L0GiK]

Good read. Would your brain adapt over time to wake up after a certain cycle if you had an alarm set for, say a half hour into the next cycle? What I'm trying to ask is if you have an alarm set for 6:30AM, which is 30minutes into the next sleep cycle, would your brain adapt over time to wake up at 6:00AM instead, right after the ending of the last full cycle? I only ask because I've found that during school I'll wake up 10-15minutes before my alarm after a few weeks.

I see what you're asking, good question. I find that I also do what you do; but I don't think that's because the brain adapts. In my opinion it's to do with the "biological clock" where the body remembers the sleep patterns. I used to wake up before my alarm, I usually felt pretty stressed and I think that counts as an interruption because I subconsciously knew that the alarm was going to ring soon and my body knew the annoying feeling that occurs when it goes off, so I automatically woke up earlier. If you let the biological clock know that you're interrupted at 6:30AM everyday, it will remember that and IMO it will wake you up beforehand. So in a way, I guess you could say that the brain "adapts".

Really depends on whether you wake up energetic or tired. If you wake up at 6:15AM and you feel good, that must mean it's the end of a cycle, therefore just set your alarm to 6:15 or just go to sleep 15 minutes later (the previous day). If you wake up tired before the alarm like I used to, that must be because of nerves and subconscious fear of the alarm clock.



Basically yes, but don't oversleep for school or work. Try and work out your cycle duration and then keep adding and repeating that duration to the time of when you fall asleep. So let's say you go to bed at 11PM and your sleep cycle is 90 minutes. 11 + 90 mins = 12:30 + 90 mins = 2 and so on until you land on an appropriate hour to wake up in. So let's say your school starts at 8 and you need 1 hour to get ready, keep adding until you land on a time closest to 7 o clock (since you need that 1 hour).

... 2 + 90 mins = 3:30 + 90 mins = 5 + 90 mins = 6:30

... And so you would set your alarm to 6:30, because if you added another 90 minutes, you would wake up at 8 o clock and your teacher / boss would whip yo ass for being late . Alternatively, you could go to bed 30 minutes later the day before, so you exactly wake up at 7AM.

robbie_vlad that ^ applies to you too .

great thread.

not sure if this has being asked but i got bored of reading through the posts!

if i wake up lets say 30 mins into a cycle therefore feeling very tired but my body has gotten its required cycles before hand, would this lead to feeling tired through the day even though in reality my body has had enough sleep

[Agumon]

great thread.

not sure if this has being asked but i got bored of reading through the posts!

if i wake up lets say 30 mins into a cycle therefore feeling very tired but my body has gotten its required cycles before hand, would this lead to feeling tired through the day even though in reality my body has had enough sleep

You would wake up feeling tired, but throughout the day you would be energetic.

[L0GiK]

You would wake up feeling tired, but throughout the day you would be energetic.

mayne .. guess i still gotta figure out what my sleep issues are!

[Maxwell1995]

Yes, I remember too, you were actually the first person who started my rant about sleep, thank you for that!

No problem man! You helped me a lot. Now I get to stay up until Midnight, sleep until 6:10, and I have more than enough energy. Almost like I didn't even sleep! Congrats again on the sticky.

[Robination]

Very nice read, thanks OP.

[Agumon]

mayne .. guess i still gotta figure out what my sleep issues are!

What problems are you having man? If you're feeling tired in your day, you must need more sleep.

No problem man! You helped me a lot. Now I get to stay up until Midnight, sleep until 6:10, and I have more than enough energy. Almost like I didn't even sleep! Congrats again on the sticky.

Well done bro, sounds like you're having fun! Thanks for the congrats .

Very nice read, thanks OP.

No problem, enjoy.

[prorathack]

if you get to the vibrations just keep going with flow and try to float out of your body :P
lol try it..

[rickaysurvive]

rep'd, sick write up.

[etkillah]

I got a question for yah, I usually sleep around 2 - 3 hours a night only, I work from 7:30 AM to 6 PM monday-saturday.

I get off at 6, go to the gym till 8 or so, then I dont go to sleep till around 3-4 am usually and wake up at 6:00 am, hence the only 2-3 hours of sleep a night.

Yet when I only sleep 2-3 hours a night, I feel great all day, full of energy, even at the gym im just completely energized all day.

But then when I sleep 6+ hours at night, I feel tired all day, groggy, impatient, frustrated etc, tired and lazy at the gym, and tired all night.

Everyone thinks im weird because I only sleep around 2 hours per night, but I act like im on crack at work, gym, etc.

Any ideas how this works, im thinking possibly thats its not so much how many hours per night you sleep, but that you consistently get around the same hours of sleep per night all the time, its like my body got used to only sleeping 2 hours a night I guess.

[ibldcubbyblue]

Mind=blown

[Full_Power24]

Okay so first of all, this is a long thread but please take your time reading this as it took me hours to write and edit; you won't regret it, I promise you.

So I have recently stumbled upon lots of people here who say "Even though I sleep 8-9 hours, I'm still tired." and a lot of others who just generally believe that more sleep = more energy + better well-being.

This is NOT TRUE.

When you go to sleep, your body enters different "stages" of sleep. There are 5 overall stages and together they count as 1 "cycle". During the night, these cycles keep repeating until you wake up. 1 cycle lasts approximately 90 minutes but it varies from person to person. You might think this is nonsense but keep reading, you will benefit greatly.

THE IMPORTANT THING: There are 2 ways in which you can wake up. Full of energy and positivity or completely tired with a bad mood. These 2 are NOT a result of either sleeping more or less; they are a result of you either waking up at the end of a particular cycle, or cancelling a cycle by being interrupted by an external source. Read below.

If you finish a cycle successfully and wake up, you will feel brilliant, full of energy and positivity. If your cycle is interrupted by an external source (you wanting to pee, parents/friends waking you up), you will feel terrible / grumpy and you will feel like you need "more sleep". Also, if in some mornings you wake up full of energy (which means you have just finished a cycle), and then force yourself to sleep more, there's a good chance you won't finish that newly entered cycle since you're just lazing about for 10 minutes and that will result in you waking up feeling tired again. And this is not just about waking up tired; this is about how your energy will be used throughout your entire day.

Side note 1: Sometimes you will find yourself lucky in a way that even though someone wakes you up which is an interruption, you will be at the end of a cycle so you'll feel good. Don't bet on it though, the chances of someone waking you up right at the end of a cycle is pretty low.

THE WHOLE POINT: The whole point is that even though most people need a particular number of cycles which add up to 8 hours (hence they say "You need 8 hours of sleep minimum"), it doesn't mean YOU need the 8 hours. Everyone is different and there are a few famous people who only need a small amount of cycles in order to replenish their energy, therefore they only sleep 2-3 hours daily which is phenomenal (imagine all the time saved). A cycle usually lasts 90 minutes, so just remember, if you wake up at the end of one, that's when you'll feel like a king. Your body might need 5, 6, 7 hours... You never know... If you naturally wake up earlier than most people (without interruptions), that will mean you need less cycles than most people. In that case, there's nothing wrong with you, you can just get up and enjoy a longer day .

Side note 2: Even if you woke up after 1 cycle (90 minutes), you would still feel energetic even though your body definitely needs a lot more cycles in order to engage in important activities such as muscle growth. Waking up & feeling good isn't everything.

SO HOW DO I KNOW WHEN I'M SUPPOSED TO WAKE UP?
This is easy. You need to eliminate all possible external sources which can wake you, including the urge to pee, so just drink water slightly earlier in the day so you urinate before bed. If there are no interruptions, your body will automatically wake you up at the end of your very own cycle; that's when you should get up.

For the next part I'll be using wikipedia to slightly help me out with the numbers, read only if you're REALLY interested :

*** More Scientific Part ***

Types & Percentages of Sleep In Stages:

• Stage 1 & 2: Light sleep; together, these two stages account for 50% of all sleeping time.
• Stage 3 & 4: Deep sleep; together, these two stages account for 25% of all sleeping time.
• Stage 5 (REM stage) – this stage represents the remaining 25% of all sleeping time.

Stage Functions:

Stage 1: Our heart rate and breathing become slower. If something wakes you up during this stage, you can easily believe that you haven’t fallen asleep at all as you are still highly aware of your surroundings.

Stage 2: This stage defines the beginning of true sleep. This is also the stage in which most people loose their awareness. The muscles become relaxed and the body stops moving.

Stage 3: Similar to Stage 4.

Stage 4: This is the deepest stage of sleep. Blood pressure drops; heart and breathing rate are decreased and stabilized.

Stage 5 - Rapid Eye Movement (REM): This is a special stage of sleep during which our brains become extremely active. Blood pressure increases, breathing becomes faster and irregular. The eyes start to dart back and forth. Most of our dreaming occurs in this stage. Because we might hurt ourselves while trying to move in response to the content of our dreams, the brain completely blocks our muscles.

The above 5 steps I copied ages ago from a legit site but can't remember which one, now I just edited them and rewrote them so they're more understandable. Don't be surprised if you recognise them. The rest is purely written by me.

I hope you've enjoyed reading this; just thought I'd share some useful information.

Edit: A source that slightly helped me: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep

Edit 2: By the way, interruptions may include vibrations of some kind, scary dreams, erections, people waking you up, wanting to urinate, traffic noise, the "biological clock" etc. I studied and experimented with these things carefully a while back as I was greatly interested in sleep cycles, that is how I know everything.

Edit 3: If a cycle is broken (disturbed) and you go back to sleep, that cycle will NOT continue. A new one will begin.

Questions are welcome!

A sticky would be great. Thank you .

wow cool,i have always been interested too in sleep cycles and the like,but never quite knew it was this deep,thanks.this info is highly useful and interesting,after reading this,it's a wonder how unique,interesting,and complex are bodies can truely be.

[Full_Power24]

also Agumon i have a question,sometimes i am awake during the moments my muscles won't move,i know im awake but can't move,is this a normal or genetic thing? it's pretty scary to be honest.lol

[Agumon]

I got a question for yah, I usually sleep around 2 - 3 hours a night only, I work from 7:30 AM to 6 PM monday-saturday.

I get off at 6, go to the gym till 8 or so, then I dont go to sleep till around 3-4 am usually and wake up at 6:00 am, hence the only 2-3 hours of sleep a night.

Yet when I only sleep 2-3 hours a night, I feel great all day, full of energy, even at the gym im just completely energized all day.

But then when I sleep 6+ hours at night, I feel tired all day, groggy, impatient, frustrated etc, tired and lazy at the gym, and tired all night.

Everyone thinks im weird because I only sleep around 2 hours per night, but I act like im on crack at work, gym, etc.

Any ideas how this works, im thinking possibly thats its not so much how many hours per night you sleep, but that you consistently get around the same hours of sleep per night all the time, its like my body got used to only sleeping 2 hours a night I guess.

Well, if you're absolutely sure that you only need 2-3 hours of sleep and you're energetic all day, then you must be one of those lucky people who only need a short period of time for their energy to recover. This is very rare and I find it hard to believe that you're one of these people but if what you're saying is true, then just enjoy your 2-3 hours of sleep, if you're certain you don't need more.

also Agumon i have a question,sometimes i am awake during the moments my muscles won't move,i know im awake but can't move,is this a normal or genetic thing? it's pretty scary to be honest.lol

During the REM stage, the heart rate increases dramatically and the brain becomes very active. This is the stage at which people dream. In order for you to not hurt yourself in response to what you might see in your dream, your brain blocks all movement in the muscles. Whenever you wake up and can't move, it's because you have just awoken from a REM stage. And I agree, sleep cycles are fascinating .

[ch0chi]

Also, one thing that should be noted is when you wake up, be sure to have a glass of water handy.(a big glass)

Drinking water right when you get up restarts the bodies hydration system. Thus waking you up.

It's one of the best ways to wake up.

[Eighttroy19]

What about the time it takes you to actually fall asleep? Because it takes me over 30 min to fall asleep.

[Agumon]

Also, one thing that should be noted is when you wake up, be sure to have a glass of water handy.(a big glass)

Drinking water right when you get up restarts the bodies hydration system. Thus waking you up.

It's one of the best ways to wake up.

Where did you get this information from? Thanks for sharing!

What about the time it takes you to actually fall asleep? Because it takes me over 30 min to fall asleep.

Someone asked that in an earlier post, I provided all the steps .

[ch0chi]

A friend of mine told me awhile ago. It really does help.

also
http://www.ineedmotivation.com/blog/...-up-motivated/

[MadDogMalesh]

Very nice read, looked into it a little more since I was interested. Talked about it a little bit in psych and I got to talk about it like I knew everything already, REM.

[DaByoon]

i needed this

[BigChamp89]

i always feel the best if i sleep 6-7 hours anymore and i just feel lazy
but sleeping in feels so good man

[Chrom3y]

Lol I guess most of you never took psychology in high school, still a good post though.

[NoobSocks112]

im stupid and confused lol.
on monday i have school at 8:00 so i wake up at 7:00 but on tuesday through friday- schoool is at 7 so i wake up at 6 how many cycles sleep patterns and hours of sleep should i get?
Also my parents watch the tv really loud at night so i turn my fan on. I turn the fan on as white noise to keep the tv sound out. Is the fan what is waking me up at night?
It is not a ceiling fan its a regular fan that oscillates.
Please help, i feel really tired and i cant stay awake in class so my grades are getting lower.

[DarkBoss123]

How does the biological clock wake you up?

[SeminoleSigner]

Mr Agumon! Is there anyway to 'test' your sleep cycles? Like, find out how long your particular cycle lasts? It would be great so I could time it from what time I go to bed so I can set my alarm to wake up at the end of a cycle before school.

Thanks.

[point-guard]

by the way..is it true that when you sleep, your body releases human growth hormones that allows your body to 'repair' you body parts?

[Agumon]

im stupid and confused lol.
on monday i have school at 8:00 so i wake up at 7:00 but on tuesday through friday- schoool is at 7 so i wake up at 6 how many cycles sleep patterns and hours of sleep should i get?
Also my parents watch the tv really loud at night so i turn my fan on. I turn the fan on as white noise to keep the tv sound out. Is the fan what is waking me up at night?
It is not a ceiling fan its a regular fan that oscillates.
Please help, i feel really tired and i cant stay awake in class so my grades are getting lower.

Depends on when you go to sleep. From that moment, try measuring 90 minute cycles until you get a time close to when you're supposed to wake up. Reset your alarm to that time and see how you feel. However, if you feel tired all day, it means you're not getting enough hours of sleep so go to bed earlier. Read the thread more carefully so you can fully understand.

Lots of things can be waking you up but in my opinion you don't need a fan to create white noise; just ignore the TV until you fall asleep or ask your parents to turn it down.

How does the biological clock wake you up?

If for example you go to sleep at 10 every night and something interrupts you in the middle of a particular cycle, your body will remember that time of interruption everyday and you'll find that you're waking up slightly before the interruption as your body gets nervous; it knows you're going to be disturbed. This "clock" can be reset to its natural state by getting rid of that disturbance or by retiming the disturbance to an end of a cycle.

Mr Agumon! Is there anyway to 'test' your sleep cycles? Like, find out how long your particular cycle lasts? It would be great so I could time it from what time I go to bed so I can set my alarm to wake up at the end of a cycle before school.

Thanks.

Yes, if you check earlier posts, you'll find your answer.

by the way..is it true that when you sleep, your body releases human growth hormones that allows your body to 'repair' you body parts?

I don't know about hormones but it definitely does "repair" body parts when you sleep; it's just a natural process.

[danwilkinson1]

So when im going to sleep i could set my alarm for 7.5 hours time, and ill wake up feeling good?