Is there a difference in getting 6 hours sleep + 1 hour nap vs. 7 straight hours?
I heard that the first few hours of sleep are the deepest and most productive. Hence, it should follow that 6 + 1 hours of sleep are better than 7. However, I find it optimum for myself to sleep 5 + 2.
I’ve heard of people getting big and strong on an average of 5 hours of sleep. As long as you’re getting a decent amount then you’re probably fine.
A nasal spray containing a naturally occurring brain hormone called orexin A reversed the effects of sleep deprivation in monkeys, allowing them to perform like well-rested monkeys on cognitive tests. The discovery’s first application will probably be in treatment of the severe sleep disorder narcolepsy.
The treatment is “a totally new route for increasing arousal, and the new study shows it to be relatively benign,” said Jerome Siegel, a professor of psychiatry at UCLA and a co-author of the paper. “It reduces sleepiness without causing edginess.”
Orexin A is a promising candidate to become a “sleep replacement” drug. For decades, stimulants have been used to combat sleepiness, but they can be addictive and often have side effects, including raising blood pressure or causing mood swings. The military, for example, administers amphetamines to pilots flying long distances, and has funded research into new drugs like the stimulant modafinil (.pdf) and orexin A in an effort to help troops stay awake with the fewest side effects.
Anyway, its just a matter of time until the new drug comes out that eliminates our need for sleep.
More info here:
Life is short, why waste it on sleep. 
[quote]rephore wrote:
Life is short, why waste it on sleep.
[/quote]
because it feels good!
i like going to sleep around 10, waking up at 1am, doing homework until 3/4 (if necessary) going back to sleep, and waking up around 7-8am.
if i don’t have much homework, i’ll just bullshit around on xbox or WoW and drink a protein shake.
Liquid, that is a crazy sleep schedule, but hey, whatever works!
I shoot for 8-9, then normally take a 20-30min nap later in the day, espically if i’m going to be out late.
[quote]Liquid447 wrote:
i like going to sleep around 10, waking up at 1am, doing homework until 3/4 (if necessary) going back to sleep, and waking up around 7-8am.
if i don’t have much homework, i’ll just bullshit around on xbox or WoW and drink a protein shake.
[/quote]
I was actually doing something very similar to this and it worked very well. I never think I had more energy sleeping this way.
I’d go to sleep from 8 - 11/12 and then stay up til about 3 or 4 and wake up at like 7:30. The only problem was I never got tired when I slept this way and I’d start missing my 8 pm sleeping and staying up straight until 3.
i find i function best on 9-10 hours of sleep a night. Unfortunately, this rarely happens, so i will squeeze in a 45 min to 1 hour nap in the middle of the day. As for the comparison, i feel that your body will determine what is best for you. if you feel groggy and can’t concentrate, take a short nap.
I heard that if you do not get at least 8 hours of consecutive, uninterrupted sleep, you will get cancer.
[quote]itsthetimman wrote:
Liquid447 wrote:
i like going to sleep around 10, waking up at 1am, doing homework until 3/4 (if necessary) going back to sleep, and waking up around 7-8am.
if i don’t have much homework, i’ll just bullshit around on xbox or WoW and drink a protein shake.
I was actually doing something very similar to this and it worked very well. I never think I had more energy sleeping this way.
I’d go to sleep from 8 - 11/12 and then stay up til about 3 or 4 and wake up at like 7:30. The only problem was I never got tired when I slept this way and I’d start missing my 8 pm sleeping and staying up straight until 3.[/quote]
when you do that, you HAVE to work out. i found as long as i hit the weights hard and went for a decent run around 3-5pm, i’d be tired when 10pm came up.
I was just recently thinking about this topic, so I’m glad someone brought it up.
I typically get 6.5 hours sleep at night, and then take a 30-60 minute nap when I get home from work, so that I’ll have the energy for my evening training.
The only problem with this schedule is training usually gets my body so worked up that I need about 3 hours to calm down before I can even think about hitting the bed. Sometimes that’s past midnight, unfortunately.
Well I “crashed” yesterday after about 10 days of 5 hours a day of sleep. I slept 14 hours last night.
[quote]Liquid447 wrote:
i like going to sleep around 10, waking up at 1am, doing homework until 3/4 (if necessary) going back to sleep, and waking up around 7-8am.
if i don’t have much homework, i’ll just bullshit around on xbox or WoW and drink a protein shake.
[/quote]
This is my current sleeping habit ha. it was unintentional at the start…just tired one day and took a nap, but now i think it’s the best…more than anything cuz now it’s easier to get homework done since there’s nothing to watch on tv and no one to talk to on myspace ha. but yeah i’m thinking of maybe keeping this habit… it feels good…
I remember a Seinfeld episode when Kramer was using polyphasic sleep (20 mins every 3 hours). It wasn’t working for him. lol
[quote]Dispenser wrote:
I was just recently thinking about this topic, so I’m glad someone brought it up.
I typically get 6.5 hours sleep at night, and then take a 30-60 minute nap when I get home from work, so that I’ll have the energy for my evening training.
The only problem with this schedule is training usually gets my body so worked up that I need about 3 hours to calm down before I can even think about hitting the bed. Sometimes that’s past midnight, unfortunately.[/quote]
Number one reason I take a afternoon nap as well. late MMA sessions (till 930/1000) get me so jazzed up I can’t sleep for shit.
-chris