About SLEEP - You will be shocked.

[Benny332]

awesome info, good work dude

[Xtr3me]

Repped. Awesome guide. Gonna drink water earlier in the day, and then make sure I have a nice quiet sleep.

[S1K-KNT]

damn nice info, thanks for posting

[benswogger]

Thanks for this post, man. Knowing my cycle times will definitely help me manage my time better and get the most out of my sleep. Nice work.

[mryorkielover]

there are actual programs out there that will help you find out your sleep schedule and which works best for you. everyone is different so we all have different sleep patterns.

[theCHANGE]

That's very useful information..no wonder I feel grumpy a lot when I just go back to sleep.

[kvizzel]

Damn, now I know when I wake up I shouldn't go back to sleep.

I always wake up and say like 5 more minutes lol.

Then wake up feeling like ****.

[rushki]

nothing really shocking here, just more information reinforcing the benefits and logic of taking naps and timing them to avoid grogginesssss

[rmartinez13]

This is a great read. I wake up feeling great sometimes after only 5 hours of sleep, but after 9 or 10 i feel like crap all day. Now i know why.

[Kayxee]

Awsome usefull stuff bro keep it up man!

[YeahBuddy123]

ive heard about this and it makes sense to me, waking up after certain hours i feel more rested, even if its less time

[heroyi]

hmm...that makes sense. couple of questions.

first, how do i know how much sleep i need? i mean i can wake up at the 90min mark and feel great but still need a lot of sleep?? so do i just try to aim for 8 hours??

second, lets say i need 8 hours of sleep. if i wake up in the middle of the night then does that mean i have to reset "the timer" and try to get the 8 hour sleep again?

[V1sual B1nary]

It is interesting. Nothing suprising here though.
As a final year student i do alot of working from home so i get monday and wednesday 'off' from university.
I sleep with ear plugs always so i dont ever get disturbed by traffic or birds or anything outside and always get a good sleep.
But there does seem to be sleeping too much causing the tired feeling. If i sleep 7-8 hours im ok but alot of the time i wake up naturally after 9+ hours of sleep and then have no energy and feel tired. Although everything was natural, is there a theory on this or any references research?

[Agumon]

hmm...that makes sense. couple of questions.

first, how do i know how much sleep i need? i mean i can wake up at the 90min mark and feel great but still need a lot of sleep?? so do i just try to aim for 8 hours??

second, lets say i need 8 hours of sleep. if i wake up in the middle of the night then does that mean i have to reset "the timer" and try to get the 8 hour sleep again?

You need more than one cycle. Try five at first (so 5 x 90) and see if you feel tired. If you do, add more cycles. If you don't, keep the number of cycles, or if you really feel energetic and you are 100% sure you need less sleep than 5 cycles, reduce the number of them. Remember, not everyone's cycles last for 90 minutes, check earlier posts where I explain how to work your own duration out, or just use common sense, it's very simple.

No, don't bother resetting anything, just go back to sleep. If you wake up, just make sure the thing that woke you up is gone the next night.

It is interesting. Nothing suprising here though.
As a final year student i do alot of working from home so i get monday and wednesday 'off' from university.
I sleep with ear plugs always so i dont ever get disturbed by traffic or birds or anything outside and always get a good sleep.
But there does seem to be sleeping too much causing the tired feeling. If i sleep 7-8 hours im ok but alot of the time i wake up naturally after 9+ hours of sleep and then have no energy and feel tired. Although everything was natural, is there a theory on this or any references research?

Not that I know of. Good question though, this has never been discussed here before. Personally, I don't see how "sleeping on empty" (sleeping more than you need to) can cause tiredness, if everything is natural; the thing is, in most instances people only think it has been natural, whereas it hasn't.

[Efilon]

I have to agree with V1sual B1nary. A lot of times when I sleep too much I still feel tired. Sometimes getting less sleep feels better, like a good slap in the face.

[CyKo99]

awesome thread.
Quick question Agumon: Do you know of any tips that will help me fall asleep and STAY asleep? Most of the time, I have a hard falling asleep but as if thats not bad enough, i wake up at least 3-4 times during the night to turn to my left side/right side. Any ideas?

[Agumon]

awesome thread.
Quick question Agumon: Do you know of any tips that will help me fall asleep and STAY asleep? Most of the time, I have a hard falling asleep but as if thats not bad enough, i wake up at least 3-4 times during the night to turn to my left side/right side. Any ideas?

Well there really could be a lot of reasons, but since you mention turning to sides, perhaps your bed isn't comfortable? Have you tried sleeping somewhere else before without having the problem?

[SlipperyGypsy]

Good info. I sleep alot, ive also wondered how it affects me if i sleep in. As sometimes i have 12 hour sleeps for no reason at all

[TexasAggie2014]

This looks just like my psychology textbook.

[Outkasz]

Thanks Interesting post.

[bestbet23]

that actually makes alot of sense when you think about it, I realize now that I've defeinitly experienced that but never put it into words =P good job =)

[jtwoodall]

So I normally wake up at 5:30 to head to the gym, but 9/10 times Im tired as hell until the time I get into my truck. So if your saying the average cycle is 90 minutes, and it always starts over when you wake up.. I should set my alarm for 4:00am, go back to bed a few minutes later, and wake up at 5:30 to my alarm. That way I would be up at the end of my cycle? Im going to give it a shot tomorrow morning and see how it goes.

Also in your research did you ever come across any reason why somebody might twitch consistently throughout the night? My girlfriend cant stand it because I hit her almost every night somehow. It starts right after I fall asleep and does not stop all night.

[Agumon]

So I normally wake up at 5:30 to head to the gym, but 9/10 times Im tired as hell until the time I get into my truck. So if your saying the average cycle is 90 minutes, and it always starts over when you wake up.. I should set my alarm for 4:00am, go back to bed a few minutes later, and wake up at 5:30 to my alarm. That way I would be up at the end of my cycle? Im going to give it a shot tomorrow morning and see how it goes.

Also in your research did you ever come across any reason why somebody might twitch consistently throughout the night? My girlfriend cant stand it because I hit her almost every night somehow. It starts right after I fall asleep and does not stop all night.

No, that's not how because the alarm is going to cancel your cycle which is useless. Count 90 minutes repeatedly from the time you go to sleep. For instance, you go to sleep at 11PM, count 11+90mins+90mins+90mins and so on, until you reach an appropriate time in the morning which hits the end of a cycle. So counting from 11, an ideal time for you would be 5, since you mentioned you wake up early. Or 6:30. Or 8, etc.

And no sorry, never came across any twitching, talk to your GP about it so he can redirect you to a suitable doctor. Best of luck bro, let me know how the sleep goes.

[alannigz]

I seem to wake up every night in the middle of the night for no apparent reason, but then i fall asleep again, wake up at 8am and feel terrible for the rest of the day

[Daedorax]

Basic psychology but man you explained it way better than I ever could.. But I support everything you say 100% because science has done numerous test to prove this and you are correct.

Also I power nap I good bit because it is a great way to gain energy quickly. Power nap is when you hit stage 1 and stage 2 but not stage 3. When you hit stage 3 you are asleep and it is hard for you to wake yourself up. Just a little tip. Power naps should last between 10- 20 mins at most..

Just throwing in a little bit of my knowledge to throw in dude, but great work with your post.

[Agumon]

I seem to wake up every night in the middle of the night for no apparent reason, but then i fall asleep again, wake up at 8am and feel terrible for the rest of the day

There's always a reason, just use common sense to find out what it is.

Basic psychology but man you explained it way better than I ever could.. But I support everything you say 100% because science has done numerous test to prove this and you are correct.

Also I power nap I good bit because it is a great way to gain energy quickly. Power nap is when you hit stage 1 and stage 2 but not stage 3. When you hit stage 3 you are asleep and it is hard for you to wake yourself up. Just a little tip. Power naps should last between 10- 20 mins at most..

Just throwing in a little bit of my knowledge to throw in dude, but great work with your post.

Thanks for the support. And like you said, it must be good for a quick energy boost, I agree. Good stuff, take care bro !

[Daedorax]

I seem to wake up every night in the middle of the night for no apparent reason, but then i fall asleep again, wake up at 8am and feel terrible for the rest of the day

Alrite alnnigz your problem could be oversleep or if you are working up at a time schedule then 8am might be when your body is in Stage 3, Stage 4, or REM. If you wake up doing any of these stages you will feel terrible, because during these stages your body is actually immobilized.... I know it's crazy but true, so that terrible feeling is from you waking up at the wrong time.

So they only thing I can suggest is to start going to bed 15 mins early tonight and then 15 mins even early the next night until you get into a good rhyme. Sleep can be a great thing, but don't get to much.

If you have anymore questions, please pm me. I hope I helped.

There's always a reason, just use common sense to find out what it is.



Thanks for the support. And like you said, it must be good for a quick energy boost, I agree. Good stuff, take care bro !

Np buddy but I just like helpen people out.

[Trainedge]

So do u wake up after that last cycle usually?

[Daedorax]

So do u wake up after that last cycle usually?

Well theoretically, your body should wake itself when it has had enough sleep, but you can train your body to wake up at certain times. I'll explain the cycles below

Stage 1---Stage 2---Stage 3---Stage 4---REM(Rapid Eye Movement)---Stage 3---Stage 2---Stage 1---REM----1----2----3----2---1---REM---1--2--1---wake

This is how your body should operate over about an 8 hour sleep period. REM and Stage 4 is when you are considered to be in a very deep sleep. I hope the information that I gave you helps.

[lenexa]

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 .

what if you have to get up for work at a certain time? lol how should you plan your sleep schedule, just go to bed earlier?