How much sleep is enough?

[Chucknate]

I always thought I was getting enough sleep, as I would wake up without an alarm clock at 7:00-8:00 every morning. However, this was because my room was not totally dark and I was waking as soon as the sun came up. Since Investing in better curtains I can sleep a lot longer and get higher quality sleep. I usually wake up on my own accord after around 9-10 hours which is optimal for me, but 7 1/2-8 doesn't really make to much appreciable difference.

 

[SeanBen]

A sleep of 6 to 7 hours is enough for a person..

 

[adam199]

If I slept without an alarm clock I would sleep 14 hours. I don't know why, but that's just what happens.

 

[Respeezy]

If i eat really clean ( lots and lots of veggies) and dont train i feel like i function good on 6 hours of sleep. Have to say i never tried it for an extended period, don't think it would hold up to be honest.

When i eat really clean and train i need around 8 hours sometimes 9.

When i eat "normal" and train i need 10 good hours of sleep, sometimes 11 to (almost) fully recover.

When i ate raw, super clean, i automatically woke up fresh after 6-7 hours after heavy trainings, recovered super fast, but the diet is to much trouble for me to maintain.

 

[Skyrim]

Try to get as much as you need on average thats 7-9 hours its IMPORTANT to try and sleep at night in a very dark room [no city light seeping in the window]and be awake during the day.

 

[Chernabog]

There are a number of studies recently saying 6 hours 30 minutes is optimal and sleeping more than 7 hours is detrimental.

Sounds pretty sketchy to me. I'd like to see multiple sources on this. My two cents is when I don't use an alarm and I wake up on my own there's something my body knows more than me when it comes to sleep time.

 

[Oblivian]

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.

My body tends to wake up at a certain time, not by how much sleep I need. Throughout the week, I go to bed at around 10 and wake up at 6:15 to an alarm. On Fridays where HDNet/Axs fights are on, I stay up until around 1. I still wake up by 6:30 or 7 and it's not enough sleep. Despite feeling sleep deprived throughout the day, I'll stay up until 1 against to watch the UFC. Sunday morning, I still wake up at 6:30 or 7. My days of sleeping in are over. I can't fall back asleep even though I know I need more. I feel like death on Sunday.

 

[Noblet10]

I typically feel like crap unless I've had at least 10hrs sleep. If I have been sleep deprived for an amount of time, I can easily sleep 14hrs+. If I just slept in every day for a week, I would probably average somewhere between 10-12hrs of sleep to feel ready to wake up.

I currently average 8-9hrs sleep every night. I don't feel great when I wake up, and I can even feel quite drowsy depending how hard I worked or exercised the previous day. I typically feel fine after I've been awake a few hours.

When I have to wake up really early all the sudden, I typically only get 6hrs or less. I feel like complete shit throughout the day unless I am completely occupied.

Everything I've heard is average person needs about 7-8hrs a sleep per night. Athletes need 9-10hrs sleep per night.

 

[Chulo**]

I need exactly 2 hours of sleep.

 

[Ladder Master]

You havent lived life untill you have worked 8 hours at a poor job
on 4 or 5 hours of broken sleep due to child care.

That makes 7 hours of care free single life slumber sound like dream.

 

[IronMaidenfan#1]

The amount of sleep required and the amount of stress the person is under must surely be linked. If chronically stressed through work, bad diet, training, life stress etc... then I would imagine that you need more. This is actually my experience as well. I have had periods were I have eaten super clean, removed sugar from the diet, plenty of water and a bit less coffee than now, high protein intake, spent less time in front of computer screens etc... along with 5 workouts a week (between 30-45 mins per workout in duration) and I found that I would go to bed at 11pm, fall asleep fast and wake up at 5.30am the next day - feeling alive and ready to go!

The role of having good insulin sensitivity must have some sort of factor in how you feel after being asleep.

At the moment my life is a bit up and down but not bad, I am averaging about 7 hours of sleep and feeling good but not great like mentioned before.

 

[closetfighter]

conditions are so important, and havaen't been mentioned yet.

do you fall asleep with the tv blaring and your computer fan running next to your head?? chances are even if you get 8 hours, you'll still feel unrested.

do you fall asleep with lights on, and the blinds open so when the sun comes up it pours all into your rooms? chances are you won't get a good sleep.

my recipe for success.

1. pitch black room
2. not a single sounds coming from anything. tv off. computer off. not even any music.
3. one giant bong rip usually knocks me the fuck out.

 

[blink_man182]

I'm fine with like 5 hours but that is because I'm used to a hectic schedule. However I wish I could get like 8ish hours a night but its not possible at this point in my life.

 

[Gunny]

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.

What if you're the type who wakes up multiple times throughout the night?

 

[carlsonbjj]

7 hours

 

[KILL KILL]

As a Marine I was conditioned to sleep 5 hours max. Any more and I didn't feel right. I kept this up for years with no issues. Now I need atleast 7 or 8. Any less and I feel like garbage.

 

[MightySparrow]

Sleep needs vary a lot between individuals. Anything between 5 hours and 9 hours a day is probably "normal". Most adults will probably feel best at 7-8 I'd say.

Then it depends on your age as well. You tend to need less sleep the older you get. So an average teenager will probably want 8-9 hours a day and an old man maybe 5-6 hours.

I'm not fond of taking naps in the afternoon but others like it, so why not if it works for you.

In all though, I think 5.30 a day sounds like enough sleep to get by but probably too little to function optimally in work, study or training. You could try though. With a bit of luck, you might be one of those enviable persons who don't need more than that.

 

[wisdom blows]

6-7 functional, 8-9 optimal

less than 5 and I have a hard time getting through the day, let alone training.

 

[wowspare]

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.