Hey T-Nation, just had a quick thought about sleep. I know they say 7-9 hours a night but sometimes its impossible to do that. Most of the time i get around 5. Do you think a body builder really can adapt to hardly any sleep and still see impressive gains?
Are any of you in this boat?
Everybody’s in the same boat.
I don’t think your body can “adapt” to lack of sleep in the way you’re thinking of it. Short sleep will hinder your progress. There is no question about that.
Doubt it.
But what’s optimal for me might not be the same for you. Get the most sleep you can, and then address the other factors that are (more) under your control.
You didn’t say if it’s your work/school that’s keeping you up, or if you can’t sleep because you’re fucking around on the computer, or video games.
If your schedule just doesn’t allow for much sleep, get what you can when you can and don’t worry about it. 5 hours is certainly not optimal, but I think you will still be able to make progress. If you’re just being a dumbass, then stop drinking mountain dew and playing Halo at 2:30 in the freaking morning.
Also NEVER stop training. If you are not eating and sleeping enough, your body will be looking for any excuse to drop some of that “excess” muscle you’re carrying around. You might not make much progress, but you at least you won’t lose years of hard work in a couple of months.
I tend to not get enough sleep. In undergrad I averaged between 4-5 hours of sleep per night. I continued to train consistently and got a lot stronger but didn’t put on weight. I find that to be way more attributed to the amount of calories I was eating which was not enough. However my appetite gets reduced a lot when I don’t get enough sleep and I don’t feel like I digest food as fast or as well.
I remember reading a while back about people who worked out and constantly deprived their bodies of sleep. For the first week or 2 it’s not extremely noticeable meaning you’re not super tired but eventually your body starts to almost build up sleep debt and it gets to the point where it harmful. Now this was running on like 2-3 hours a night so I imagine 5-6 wouldn’t be as immediate but if you’re looking for progress in the weightroom and the mirror then yes sleep is important and IMO you can’t short change it.
I’m laughing hysterically after finding this at 4:54 am after spending most of the night and early morning bouncing around the internet and watching movies.
I’m going to take this as a sign from a higher power that I should go get some shut eye.
I once read that Flex Wheeler would often sleep 16 hours a day!
Bushy
This makes sense to me since GH is naturally released during deep sleep.
How does anyone make a living sleeping THAT many hours per day… unless they were a lion? lol
[quote]Uncle Gabby wrote:
You didn’t say if it’s your work/school that’s keeping you up, or if you can’t sleep because you’re fucking around on the computer, or video games.
If your schedule just doesn’t allow for much sleep, get what you can when you can and don’t worry about it. 5 hours is certainly not optimal, but I think you will still be able to make progress. If you’re just being a dumbass, then stop drinking mountain dew and playing Halo at 2:30 in the freaking morning.
Also NEVER stop training. If you are not eating and sleeping enough, your body will be looking for any excuse to drop some of that “excess” muscle you’re carrying around. You might not make much progress, but you at least you won’t lose years of hard work in a couple of months. [/quote]
im in college, i just lift eat and study, dont have time to fuck around, and nor do i drink soda so its all good, as long as i get to lift im happy
and thanx for all of you posting i thought this post was dead
I think it might have to do with how much ur body normally sleeps.
For example, i need 10-12 hours of sleep to feel 100%, while some people can sleep for 7-9 to feel 100%. For me, getting 4-6 (which i get on school days) makes me fall asleep all the time, but for someone who needs 7-9 it might not affect them as much. They might not lose as much of a chance at gains as me. Just my opinion.
Btw, can someone explain the GH making you sleepy theory? Could this be linked to why teenagers sleep more?
My cat sleeps about 20 hours a day and he’s not buff at all.