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 2013-08-07 8:59 AM |
Elite  3515    Romeoville, Il |  Subject: Sleep!I'm one of those people that never gets 8 hours of sleep. I'm lucky if I get 7. 5-6 is more the norm. Everytime I turn around I hear the importance of sleep on recovery. I REALLY don't know how people get 8 hours of sleep. I just don't have enough time in a day! On a typical day I get up at 4am, go to work, get home at 6pm, take care of dogs, workout, make/eat dinner. Before I know it, it's 10-11pm. With that in mind I'm seeing problems with my progress in weightloss and performance. I look at my food/workout logs and think to myself how it's even possible I have any body fat, let alone a good 15-20lbs I could/should lose. I don't seem to be making a lot of progress anymore in my training either. It seems to take a lot of training just to maintain what I have. Any thoughts on sleep? Experiences on a positive or negative change out there? |
| 2013-08-07 9:11 AM in reply to: Meulen |
Champion 7036  Sarasota, FL | Subject: RE: Sleep! Talked to my doctor about this last year during my annual checkout. He told me that most folks need less sleep as they get older, but that it can be an individual thing. I only seem to need 6-7 hours per night; I seldom ever sleep past 6AM, even on my days off. On the other hand I usually end up taking a nap after most of my races, or particularly long workouts (+2 hour rides or runs). I think it's one of those things where you just have to listen to your body. Mark |
| 2013-08-07 9:19 AM in reply to: Meulen |
1159 | Subject: RE: Sleep! I'm like you - from years in the military on a ship to deployments to now, I rarely get more than 6 hours a night - most of the time i'm fine, but once a month or so, it just hits me hard...but when I sleep in to catch up, well, I don't sleep - i'm awake, and then I toss and turn I was reading an article the other day (I need to find it again), about instead of sleeping in a solid block of time; divide it up into 2 sets - so like 2 hours and then 4 hours or something like that. I have noticed that my sleep cycle tends to hit the normal REM cycle with about 90 minute sets - for naps etc and that seems to help |
| 2013-08-07 9:20 AM in reply to: Meulen |
Extreme Veteran 856 Detroit, Michigan | Subject: RE: Sleep! If you are having problems with progress it might be worthwhile to take a look at your schedule. What is your work day like? Are you on a 12-hour shift five days a week? Maybe you can shuffle your training schedule to use your long work days as your rest days or short workouts. Can you do meal prep for the week on your days off so all you have to do is zap something in the microwave when you get home? Do you have and use a crock pot? Can you take your dogs on your runs with you? I typically get 7 hours and that is sustainable for me, but once every other week or so my body just says "nope" when the alarm goes off at 5 am and I listen to it. No sense in making myself sick over my triathlon hobby. |
| 2013-08-07 10:01 AM in reply to: Miles around Midtown |
Elite 3515 Romeoville, Il | Subject: RE: Sleep! Originally posted by Miles around Midtown If you are having problems with progress it might be worthwhile to take a look at your schedule. What is your work day like? Are you on a 12-hour shift five days a week? Maybe you can shuffle your training schedule to use your long work days as your rest days or short workouts. Can you do meal prep for the week on your days off so all you have to do is zap something in the microwave when you get home? Do you have and use a crock pot? Can you take your dogs on your runs with you? I typically get 7 hours and that is sustainable for me, but once every other week or so my body just says "nope" when the alarm goes off at 5 am and I listen to it. No sense in making myself sick over my triathlon hobby. thanks for the suggestion. Technically I'm at beckon call 24/6, but physically in the office from 7am to 4pm with a 2 hour commute on both sides of that. I'm already pre-cooking as many meals as I can. Besides my regular job I'm working as a cycling instructor at Lifetime Fitness on Saturdays and running a small business with my wife. I run out of time on the weekends as well, between workouts, chores, and spending any kind of quality time with the wife. Unfortunately, my dogs are too old to run with me. I've done all the shuffling I can to fit things in. I wish I had the luxury to shut that alarm off, but when I wake up it's to get to work. I don't get to workout till I get home, right before I go to bed. I'm not really looking for suggestions on how to structure things. That's really something I'll have to figure out personally. My questions lye more along the lines of if it's worth it? While it seems like I might be complaining, my work actually affords me a pretty good lifestyle. There are other things in my life that could possibly be sacrificed for sleep as well. While I do get tired sometimes, I'm not hearing my body complaining with a loud speaker. I guess I'm more wondering if my sleep patterns are the reason I don't see many big performance gains and have a whole lot of trouble getting down to a decent race weight? For example. There was a recent 2 week period I followed a 1800-2000 cal diet, followed a 7-10 hour/wk workout schedule and still gained 3lbs for the week. |
| 2013-08-07 10:11 AM in reply to: Meulen |
Alpharetta, Georgia Bronze member | Subject: RE: Sleep! Originally posted by Meulen physically in the office from 7am to 4pm with a 2 hour commute on both sides of that. Ouch. Personal decisions and all, but it seems you've chosen 4 hours a day of commuting over more free time. That's hard to work with. |
| 2013-08-07 10:15 AM in reply to: Meulen |
Champion 14571 the alamo city, Texas | Subject: RE: Sleep! Originally posted by Meulen Originally posted by Miles around Midtown If you are having problems with progress it might be worthwhile to take a look at your schedule. What is your work day like? Are you on a 12-hour shift five days a week? Maybe you can shuffle your training schedule to use your long work days as your rest days or short workouts. Can you do meal prep for the week on your days off so all you have to do is zap something in the microwave when you get home? Do you have and use a crock pot? Can you take your dogs on your runs with you? I typically get 7 hours and that is sustainable for me, but once every other week or so my body just says "nope" when the alarm goes off at 5 am and I listen to it. No sense in making myself sick over my triathlon hobby. thanks for the suggestion. Technically I'm at beckon call 24/6, but physically in the office from 7am to 4pm with a 2 hour commute on both sides of that. I'm already pre-cooking as many meals as I can. Besides my regular job I'm working as a cycling instructor at Lifetime Fitness on Saturdays and running a small business with my wife. I run out of time on the weekends as well, between workouts, chores, and spending any kind of quality time with the wife. Unfortunately, my dogs are too old to run with me. I've done all the shuffling I can to fit things in. I wish I had the luxury to shut that alarm off, but when I wake up it's to get to work. I don't get to workout till I get home, right before I go to bed. I'm not really looking for suggestions on how to structure things. That's really something I'll have to figure out personally. My questions lye more along the lines of if it's worth it? While it seems like I might be complaining, my work actually affords me a pretty good lifestyle. There are other things in my life that could possibly be sacrificed for sleep as well. While I do get tired sometimes, I'm not hearing my body complaining with a loud speaker. I guess I'm more wondering if my sleep patterns are the reason I don't see many big performance gains and have a whole lot of trouble getting down to a decent race weight? For example. There was a recent 2 week period I followed a 1800-2000 cal diet, followed a 7-10 hour/wk workout schedule and still gained 3lbs for the week. not getting enough sleep WILL put stress on your body and will affect your ability to perform in tris, lose weight, etc. that commute alone would kick my butt, i'd neverrrr work out. |
| 2013-08-07 10:16 AM in reply to: Meulen |
Veteran 720 Aurora, Illinois | Subject: RE: Sleep! Check out this article, explains quite a bit how sleep affects performance and gain make weight loss near impossible. http://www.prevention.com/weight-loss/weight-loss-tips/how-lack-sle... |
| 2013-08-07 10:16 AM in reply to: Meulen |
New user 74 | Subject: RE: Sleep! Originally posted by Meulen Technically I'm at beckon call 24/6, but physically in the office from 7am to 4pm with a 2 hour commute on both sides of that. That is a long commute, probably is a big factor in not having enough time in the day to get 8 hours. |
| 2013-08-07 10:19 AM in reply to: blangslang |
Veteran 720 Aurora, Illinois | Subject: RE: Sleep! If your taking public transportation, trying taking a nap on the commute. A 25-45 min nap can make a huge difference! |
| 2013-08-07 10:30 AM in reply to: tzcoaching |
Elite 3515 Romeoville, Il | Subject: RE: Sleep! Originally posted by tzcoaching If your taking public transportation, trying taking a nap on the commute. A 25-45 min nap can make a huge difference! I think that may be true for how tired a person feels, but I'm not sure that solves the problems with weight loss or performance. Is sleep cummulative? or do you lose some hormone processing benefits when you get your sleep in shorter stents? |
| 2013-08-07 12:57 PM in reply to: Meulen |
| 13 | Subject: RE: Sleep! This is an interesting thread for me...I dont sleep much at all...4 to 5 hours at most. I just cant shut down and see the quiet of the late evenings as "my time." Oddly I never do anything exciting or productive so sleep would be the better alternative. A trainer I know swears that 8 to 10 hours is needed for muscle repair and weight loss. |
| 2013-08-07 1:08 PM in reply to: #4823303 |
New user 20 Orlando | Subject: RE: Sleep! Try eliminating caffeine and alcohol. I did that a couple years ago and found it hard to sleep less than 8 hours. |
| 2013-08-07 1:29 PM in reply to: Meulen |
Veteran 720 Aurora, Illinois | Subject: RE: Sleep! It will help with both. Specifically, napping will help reduce the cortisol levels you have (which are high when you don't sleep) and increase testosterone levels (which are low after working out), and help control your blood sugar, which then should allow your body to lose the extra weight. |
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