New guy with a question that got redirected from misc to here

[jakt]

Hello all you happy people! I'm new and glad to be here. This question will serve as a sort of introduction.

What's the likelyhood of making any progress in the gym while getting ~4 hours of sleep a night? Wednesdays and Thursdays are my nights off. Any other sleep deprived individuals here that can help?

[My situation to aid in proper opinioning: I work as a full time(40hrs a week) security guard on 3rd shift where I walk ~4 hours a night and go to school full time, in the morning, doing prerequisites to be a nurse (male nurse).

My previous gym experiance is during my 4 years(2001-2005) in the air force where I was at my peak gym rat activity. Here is a vague description (its all I GOT, man!) of what I consider my peak: 6' tall 220lbs with a "visible if you squint" and "obvious if I flex" 6 pack. Never got my body fat checked so that's the best I can do. My current situation is 6', near as makes no difference 250lbs. Front boobs, side boobs, almost back boobs (that sparked my interest in bodybuilding.com, although I joined up in about 2006 for sh?ts and giggles).

What i have been doing: fixing what, when and how much I eat. Every other day for the past two weeks I do push ups (15), sit ups (25), and pull ups (2). Been going well but ima try and add weight to the push ups and sit ups.]

[jawadams]

I think you could could still get decent results but due to lack of sleep you should probably be in the gym less.

I would advise just doing a full body workout maybe twice a week (or even once).

[The_Animal11]

why did this question get redirected here? haha i think this section just gets all the random questions that somewhat have to do with working out but not nutrition. kinda funny.

but anyways, not getting enough sleep can definitely hinder your gains in the gym. there is alot of immportant stuff that your body does while you sleep that will help with your out-of-gym gains. for example, your body replenishes its supply of ATP while you sleep, leading to better overall function, especially in the gym. also, with each sleep cycle (you go through quite a few sleep cycles throughout the night) your body releases many powerful anabolics like Growth Horomone.

Not only that, but having plenty of sleep could actually help with the Mind Muscle Connection you feel in the gym. your brain uses the time you're sleeping to process the day's information. if during that day you tried a new exercise, or maybe you were doing pulldowns and you felt it extra well in your lats, allowing your brain time to establish those new learned connections and build them can prove very helpful to you down the road.

basically, what i'm saying is, go to bed earlier, and get more sleep.

[spot_skater]

I regularly get between four and six hours worth of sleep.

Gains will be slower, but you should still progress, IMO.

[Nick1971]

IMO, because I am going through a bit of this dilemma myself, the OP should train once a week, fullbody, or twice a week, in a two-day split. For example Wednesday and then Thursday. I am having trouble getting a full night sleep, multiple days a week, but I've found that working the muscle groups once a week has been enough to advance, still, as a beginner. That extra bit of recovery time helps me.

I'll offer one alternative peice of advice, however. You might be able to get to sleep better at night if you work out that day. Often you can tire yourself out with a good workout session, and after the pump of the session wears off, that can help you get to bed earlier, and keep you asleep longer. It just depends on whether or not you can actually make time for the workout.

I'm a full time worker and a full time college student, so I know exactly what the OP is going through. It's damn rough fitting everything in, and maintaining a decent sleep schedule.

[jakt]

Holy sh*t. I don't know why it didn't occur to me earlier. It only makes sense to work out the pushing muscles (and their associated auxiliaries) on wednesdays and pulling muscles on the other. Ill rotate the first and last muscle groups from the prior week into the last and first muscle groups that i do the following week so as to get full intensity on each muscle group with each work out. A bit o' maintenance work during the week and presto! Ill work out the minor details as i get to them, but damn, my scheduling problems for when i start school again in the next few weeks is solved. Thanks for the help guys! I knew i joined up 3 friggen years ago for a reason.