About SLEEP - You will be shocked.

[Agumon]

Greetings sisterhood. So Mindi912 contacted me a few days ago and told me to post my thread on sleep (originally in the teen section) in the female section, so here it is. I'll be answering questions in the original thread but will visit this one too at times.

Original thread: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=126977823

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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 a guide I bought a while back to help me out slightly 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.

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 .

[Mindi912]

Awesome, I've been waiting for you to move this thread over here because I feel strange reading it in the teen section.

Thanks Agumon, I really do appreciate it.

[sonti]

And then there's those of us with wee ones who forgot what sleep was

[Mindi912]

And then there's those of us with wee ones who forgot what sleep was

Absolutely.

[imperfectly_lou]

Thanks for posting

[Agumon]

Awesome, I've been waiting for you to move this thread over here because I feel strange reading it in the teen section.

Thanks Agumon, I really do appreciate it.

Was just about to message you but I see you beat me to it.

How did you gain such speed?

[Mindi912]

Was just about to message you but I see you beat me to it.

How did you gain such speed?

Such speed?

I was in the femm section and saw the thread come up.

[Mindi912]

Brilliant thanks for the sticky LBM.

[Agumon]

Such speed?

I was in the femm section and saw the thread come up.

It just seemed speedy haha. Thanks again for letting me post here Mindi. I'll be off now so take care all .

[Mindi912]

It just seemed speedy haha. Thanks again for letting me post here Mindi. I'll be off now so take care all .

Dude I didn't LET you post in here. I kindly asked if you would and you did.

You are welcome in here at anytime.

[Agumon]

Dude I didn't LET you post in here. I kindly asked if you would and you did.

You are welcome in here at anytime.

Many thanks! You guys feel welcoming I must say. Teen section is basically an e-warzone / confusion battlefield.

And a sticky already - thanks to whoever did that , I'm really off now, bye all!

[born2dothis]

this is great info, I read it all LOL, thanks for sharing it!!

[cshannon53]

How does this relate to some of the research that suggests 30min naps around 1:00pm improves energy levels and moods, if that sleep would in theory be disrupting a 90min cycle leaving you groggy and miserable?

I am certainly intrigued by this post as some mornings I wake up chipper as a bird, while others I sloth out of bed, but each night I had approximately the same hours of sleep.

Also, the stages of sleep. There were 5 steps... do they repeat themselves in a linear fashion; 1,2,3,4,5,1,2,3,4,5,1.... etc. Or do they cycle in a more wave-like pattern 1,2,3,4,5,4,3,2,1,2,3,4,5,4....? just generally currious.

[Mindi912]

How does this relate to some of the research that suggests 30min naps around 1:00pm improves energy levels and moods, if that sleep would in theory be disrupting a 90min cycle leaving you groggy and miserable?

I am certainly intrigued by this post as some mornings I wake up chipper as a bird, while others I sloth out of bed, but each night I had approximately the same hours of sleep.

Also, the stages of sleep. There were 5 steps... do they repeat themselves in a linear fashion; 1,2,3,4,5,1,2,3,4,5,1.... etc. Or do they cycle in a more wave-like pattern 1,2,3,4,5,4,3,2,1,2,3,4,5,4....? just generally currious.

As stated everyone's cycles are different. I would love to see some research into power naps as well and see if your brain does anything different that would make you feel better. Perhaps without going through all the cycles or the brain deliberately shortening the cycles.

I wonder if there's any way for the brain to know the difference between what we'd class as a power nap or a full sleep cycle.

[jennarae86]

Great post! Thanks!!

[racejunkie]

Thanks for a great post. Would it be ok if I were to add a spin on it? If one has an intolerance to a certain food or group of foods, that can put that person into a perpetual state of unexplained tiredness/fatigue/mental fog. The main cause of my issues was gluten. The only reason I even found out about it was that I gave gluten up for other reasons and noticed the fatigue and tiredness went away once it was discontinued. If anyone is having issues with excessive fatigue and the doctors can't give you an answer, it's well worth it to keep a food diary and give up foods for a certain time period to see if the condition improves. I don't mean to hijack this thread or anything, but I went through a lot with issues I was having and the docs couldn't help at all. So, I thought it might be helpful to someone reading this great thread who is experiencing the same.

[CHRIS925]

Awesome. I had a good knowledge on sleeping stages and what not.. It reiterates it for me and gives me a reality check

Crazy how it's true though.. one night you can get 8 hours and feel awesome waking up and the next night you can get 10 hours and wake up feeling sh*ttayyy Kind of unfortunate.

I wish there was a way to control this so you can wake up exactly when you want to... This would make the whole planet considerably more efficient..

Something to add to the Rapid Eye Movement stage (REM) is that it's the "mental housekeeping" stage.. where our sanity is restored.. without this stage (for 2 or 3 days I believe) humans would literally go nuts if I'm remembering correctly..

[britchick884]

Great post thanks

[Mindi912]

great article on power napping -

http://stress.about.com/od/lowstress...a/powernap.htm

[mtash]

I agree. You can also get too much sleep and wind up groggy in the morning. It's a questions of just enough. Sleep until you wake up if you are so lucky to do so. The longer you press snooze, the worse sleep you'll get. Except if you are sick and need to give your body time to recover. I think that's the only time when more sleep is better. I've also noticed, not that I do it or anything, but if you smoke or drink before you go to bed, or add any impurities to your body, you don't wake up refreshed. The longer I'm on this transformation challenge, the better I've been sleeping and the more refreshed I am in the morning. Granted, this is not the case when I've overworked myself and not fueled my body correctly. Funny how little changes make a big difference.

[ctgblue]

And then there's those of us with wee ones who forgot what sleep was

according to dictionary.com it is:

sleep   /slip/ Show Spelled
[sleep] Show IPA
verb, slept, sleep·ing, noun
–verb (used without object)
1. to take the rest afforded by a suspension of voluntary bodily functions and the natural suspension, complete or partial, of consciousness; cease being awake.
2. Botany . to assume, especially at night, a state similar to the sleep of animals, marked by closing of petals, leaves, etc.
3. to be dormant, quiescent, or inactive, as faculties.

I still don't get any, but I know where to find out what it is...

[whatevergirl]

I feel like I've stumbled upon a pot o'gold at the end of a rainbow. SRS!
I have been tired off and on lately, thinking I'm not getting enough sleep. (I don't think I am but that's another story)

And...really, it could just be that I'm awakened by an alarm clock in the ''middle'' of a cycle.

Excellent information--thanks for this!!

[msbeeblebrox]

This is exactly why I love days when I don't have to get up early for work (at 5:00am), and instead get to wake up without an alarm, even though I end up getting roughly the same hours in sleep.

[QuietStorm]

How does this relate to some of the research that suggests 30min naps around 1:00pm improves energy levels and moods, if that sleep would in theory be disrupting a 90min cycle leaving you groggy and miserable?.

Because with only 20 - 30 minute naps, you dont fully get into the deeper sleep and you dont wake up tired. If i sleep past this 20 minute mark, I need a couple of hours sleep or i feel very tired.

I am certainly intrigued by this post as some mornings I wake up chipper as a bird, while others I sloth out of bed, but each night I had approximately the same hours of sleep.

Also, the stages of sleep. There were 5 steps... do they repeat themselves in a linear fashion; 1,2,3,4,5,1,2,3,4,5,1.... etc. Or do they cycle in a more wave-like pattern 1,2,3,4,5,4,3,2,1,2,3,4,5,4....? just generally currious.

The steps are linear.

[boomboomboom]

Good post. Reading as I'm laying in bed, I'll take this a my cue to put the phone down and close my eyes.

[RussMeyerGirl]

interesting. i've always been skeptical when people say they only need a couple hours. i might be jealous of them... more time for living.

i love me some sleep though. esp the feeling btwn stage 1 & 2 mmmmzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[danibel]

Here is a useful program which adjusts the temperature of your computer screen to match the time of the day - cold (blue) for daylight hours, warm (red) for nighttime hours. The nighttime hue might be a little strange at first, but it's so much easier on the eyes, especially before bed!

http://stereopsis.com/flux/

[Calee]

[QUOTE=danibel;641968853]Here is a useful program which adjusts the temperature of your computer screen to match the time of the day - cold (blue) for daylight hours, warm (red) for nighttime hours. The nighttime hue might be a little strange at first, but it's so much easier on the eyes, especially before bed!


I have this too! It's weird to look at in the beginning but I think I'll like it!

[bubblegumkitty]

And then there's those of us with wee ones who forgot what sleep was

exactly

[InThePocket]

I wish i could explain this to my dog.