How much sleep is enough?

[Sarumyan]

There are a number of studies recently saying 6 hours 30 minutes is optimal and sleeping more than 7 hours is detrimental.
Some even say 5 is enough.
I have to work and study a lot this semester and definitely need extra time. I am thinking about sleeping 5 hours at night, then a 30 minute nap during day, will that be enough, or better not to mess with this?
I am not doing weights, and will train 3-4 times per week, which is low for me.

 

[Nozza]

It depends on the individual. Some people are fine of 5 hours. Some people need more like 10. Studies like that are looking at averages. They cannot possible prescribe how much any one individual should get.

 

[Mumrik]

It is indeed a very individual thing from all that I've read.
I've personally never found a way to feel okay about less that ~10 hours of sleep and I can sleep up to around 18 hours if I don't set an alarm. Sucks for me, I'm tired most of the time because it's really hard to budget that much time for sleeping when you also have problems falling asleep.

 

[Sarumyan]

I will try to teach my body to sleep 5 hours. Lets see how it goes

 

[Nozza]

I personally would not try to train myself to accept a specific amount of sleep but rather to try to find out how much sleep you generally need. Most adults pretty much have that worked out.

Lack of sleep, be it deliberate or caused by external factors is not at all good for you by all accounts and may well contribute to various diseases.

 

[PUO3]

there is no correct standard number. it varies per person.

everyones body, schedule, and routines are different. personally, i go for 7 hours a night.

 

[Toothlessjoe]

I get between 4-6 on average. I always feel fine. The odd 20 min power nap around lunchtime, but I get up at 4.30AM everyday.

 

[Pathogenic]

I don't get less than 9 hours per night during the week. I only feel good when I've gotten at least that much, but other people are very different.

 

[gspieler]

A person can condition themselves to function normally on relatively small amounts of sleep, however that doesnt mean there wouldnt be any long-term detriments to their health for maintaing such a lifestye. Someone can feel fine but in the process be shortening their life expectancy. That said, I would put a fair amount for good performance and overall health at bout 6-8hrs, depending on the one's amount of stress, both physcial and mental. As previously stated, though, it is largely dependant upon the individual and most definitely varies from person to person.

 

[PUO3]

i like to see this "life shortening" study and their test data (which would be nearly impossible to even collect!).

 

[Pathogenic]

i like to see this "life shortening" study and their test data (which would be nearly impossible to even collect!).

Yeah, same. It would probably be the most flawed study ever.

 

[flikerstance]

i need 8 at the least esp when training hard there's just no way i see myself being able to function on 5 hours a night and working out hard

 

[cooks1]

Here is a 100% guaranteed way to find out EXACTLY how much sleep you need.

Day 1) Go to sleep. Do not set your alarm clock. You wake up when you wake up. This day does not count. Because you could have been sleep deprived from previous days.

Day 2) Go to sleep. Do not set your alarm clock. You wake up when you wake up. How ever long you slept, that is roughly how much sleep you need.

 

[flikerstance]

Here is a 100% guaranteed way to find out EXACTLY how much sleep you need.

Day 1) Go to sleep. Do not set your alarm clock. You wake up when you wake up. This day does not count. Because you could have been sleep deprived from previous days.

Day 2) Go to sleep. Do not set your alarm clock. You wake up when you wake up. How ever long you slept, that is roughly how much sleep you need.

lol 12 hours it is then

 

[PUO3]

Here is a 100% guaranteed way to find out EXACTLY how much sleep you need.

that is roughly how much sleep you need.

say what?

in all seriousness, this is a good measurement.

 

[Sarumyan]

This would be accurate 10 k years ago when humans were adapted to night/day cycles.

This days with artificial lights, I don't know. Here in Toronto we ran out of day light at 7 pm.

 

[pluginsocket]

7-8 hours does me perfect.

 

[Aaron Perls]

It depends on what you're doing.

Sitting at a desk all day is fatiguing, but doesn't require a lot of recovery.

When I'm in camp I sleep a lot. Outside of camp I'm one of those people who has a hard time sleeping more than 4 hours straight. I'll often do a four hour block, then wakeup for an hour, hen get another 2 or so before getting up for real.

I kind of hate it: nothing like waking up from a nice 8+ hour sleep.

 

[tkdyo]

My sleep varies quite widely. Some nights I only get 7, some I get 10 or more. I feel good either way. Though I admit Im less productive on the days I get 10.

 

[Fedorgasm]

I still have no idea what the optimal sleep amount is for me. I feel like it's pretty high, as I can function on 6 or 7 hours but I feel tired. However there have been many days where I've gotten 10 and still felt tired, so I think there's too many extraneous factors, i.e. what I ate, how active I was the day before, if I'm fighting off a cold, if I drank booze, if I busted several nuts into some random hottie, etc.