Lately Ive changed my sleeping schedule around to compliment my training. I’ve been training in the morning, then sleeping 2 hours midday, and starting the process up again for my evening training session.
I know hormones and blood sugar levels fluctuate during sleep, and Im curious what the long term effects of splitting your day into 2 almost separate days would be.
In terms of training, performance, and mood I feel much better. I just want to make sure Im not doing more harm than good.
Worked for Flex Wheeler (up to 16 hrs per day).
lol
[quote]SonnabenD wrote:
Lately Ive changed my sleeping schedule around to compliment my training. I’ve been training in the morning, then sleeping 2 hours midday, and starting the process up again for my evening training session.
I know hormones and blood sugar levels fluctuate during sleep, and Im curious what the long term effects of splitting your day into 2 almost separate days would be.
In terms of training, performance, and mood I feel much better. I just want to make sure Im not doing more harm than good.[/quote]
Generally speaking, 2 hours may not be enough to reach that deep stage of sleep (stage 3 and REM). If you are compromising your sleep at night for this 2 hour nap (instead of getting 8 hours at night, getting 6 at night then the other 2 during a nap) this would not be ideal. It’s best to get all of your sleep in one consolidated chunck this way you’ll be able to reach all stages of sleep and several cycles of them at that.
But if you have been doing this and you feel refreshed upon awakening and have great workouts. Then more power to you.
In the long run, if you feel like crap when you wake up and workouts are suffering, well you have a pretty good idea what the culprit is.
I know Cutler did it (at least) once for an Olympia. I think it’s kind of dumb though. post workout naps on the other hand… bomb.
Im definitely getting a solid 8 hrs in with plenty of REM. The other hour or 2 is just after training, otherwise I go into zombie mode for the rest of the day and can’t train at night very effectively.
It seems to work for people down here in Mexico.
I remember reading that historically quite a few communities didn’t actually have one big 8 hr sleep, they would break it up so that you would get up at first light to feed the animals or hunt or whatever, then sleep a bit in the afternoon after eating before getting up and doing more work in the evening.