How much do you guys sleep? (Page 2)

Same here, I can get by 4-5 hours of sleep as long as I sleep straight. I'm almost 50 yrs old and my workouts are for sprint triathlon. I'm a light sleeper and wakes up without an alarm clock. I love waking-up at 5am and do all my workout. Right now, I'm having a hard time adjusting my workout to later time in morning, it's too dark to ride my bike in the morning.

If I sleep more than 5 hours, I'll be tossing and turning. I don't like sleeping pills because I feel horrible and weak the following day.

I also take a 15 minute power nap everyday, more than that, I won't be able to sleep at night.

Edited by Phebes 2014-10-06 3:42 PM

I've found I can get by on 4 hours indefinitely. I can do 2 hours for about a month before I cannot even live with myself.

I sleep with earplugs in, a white noise machine, bedroom door closed, bedroom in the back of the house and if someone closes a car door in the front of my house I'm wide awake.

I'm up between 2 and 3 after going to bed between 9 and 10. That's one of the reasons I got rollers

Kids go to sleep at 8:30- I'm asleep by 8:35. Up at 4:45 most days to be first in the pool or run before work.

Usually asleep by 9:30 and up at 4:15. 7 hours of sleep is normal. Sleeping in for me is 5:30, 6 at the latest.....Wish it was different, but it doesnt happen.

I have struggled all my life with this! I really need 8-9 hours to feel good but the reality is that I don't sleep well unless I'm training pretty hard (been this way since childhood, Mom is too, probably genetics or something) and I often just don't have time to sleep that much and get everything done that needs to be done that day. Eight hours is a goal but sometims it doesn't happen. International teaching is a bit different than doing so in the states--no unions, jobs are very competitive, a lot of out-of-classroom expectations and ongoing professional development. I rarely have more than a few minutes break in a day,, and take home lots of work. Have to have 15-20 minutes down time in order to fall asleep (no screens, no work), so often that eats into the 8 hours. Without it, though, I'll toss and turn all night. Even on weekends it's hard to sleep in as any long workouts (if outdoors) need to start early morning due to heat/traffic and anyway, everyone in Asia is up and noisy by 6 AM. I really wish I could get by on less sleep but I just can't and stay healthy and functional.

I do most of my run and bike trainer stuff before work, and get up at 4:45. Unfortunately my natural sleep pattern is to sleep really well until 2:30-3:30 AM, wake up for 30-40 minutes, and then sleep deeply intil 6 or 7. So what happens most days is that I've only been back asleep for an hour pr so and am very deeply asleep when the alarm goes off. ALWAYS wake up wishing I could sleep longer!

In bed 8-9 hrs but never get good sleep. Dang swollen prostate has me up 2-3 times every night. Thinking about wearing Depends so I can get used to just staying in bed and it might help me learn to pee on the bike!!

ETA: glad to hear about splitting one's sleep into 2 segments. I going to try that by getting on the computer for an hour around 2 or 3 and see what happens. Thanks

Edited by bhc 2014-10-06 8:11 PM

Usually 5-6 hours a night and often fitful with night sweats and a lot of tossing and turning. Like someone else noted, I cannot "sleep in." I wake up between 5 and 6 am everyday no matter what time I went to bed and never use an alarm clock. Usually though it is lights out by midnight. I am a napper though, always have been. Might have something to do with having an Italian mother and spending a lot of time in Italy. They have the right idea as far as I am concerned with the break in the afternoon. It allows for me to be an early morning person and a late night person. Now would I feel better with an extra hour of sleep at night, probably, but it is what it is.

Does any body train in the evening/night? Any affect on sleep?

When I was younger and had too many day time commitments, I used to run in the evenings. I found I had a really hard time getting to sleep with that routine. Now, as soon as the lights go out, I'm done.

I have to, must, be done by about 6:00 pm with anything exertion-wise or I won't get to sleep until midnight or so.

I train whenever I need there - there are some weekends (especially if I have military drill over the weekend) that I am on the bike trainer at 10-11 at night (especially when I started hitting longer workouts during IM training). Normally a shower/food and I go to sleep - it doesn't really keep me awake - but then I also function on 5-6 hours most nights (10-4)

I typically train after work. In the summer, the workouts can go until around 8 pm. It only affects my ability to sleep if I eat something afterward that gives me heartburn. I have to be careful about what I eat right before bed.

I train late about 80% of the time (after 7 pm). It can affect sleep if it is a real endorphin boosting workout. I'll have a hard time falling asleep anywhere under 2 hours post workout. More grueling efforts will have me exhausted enough. I sleep on average (6 1/2 - 7 1/2 overnight with naps nearly every day of 30-45 minutes) HUGE fan of napping. Keeps cortisol levels down and good muscle building/sparing hormones up


Several adaptogenic herbs/amino acids help with calmness and sleep for those struggling (Lemon Balm/Ashwaghanda/Holy Basil/5-htp/glutamine/l-dopa)

PS...If life were ideal, I'd sleep for 4 hours, wake and have a tiny meal (stabilize blood sugar and take amino acids) - then back to sleep for 4 more. When I can do this, I am at my peak lean-ness and performance/mental energy

Honestly, I sleep about six hours a night and feel like garbage most of the time because of it.

When I am on vacation I almost always make big gains in fitness. Not because I train more but because I sleep more. If I sleep nine hours a night I feel like a million bucks.

I am going to have to seriously look at the cost-benefit analysis of sleep deprivation when it comes to training after this season. It might be more beneficial to me to sleep a little more and train a little less. In the long run the results may be better. We will see.

Evening is my primary time. my 3 girls are generally in bed by 9 and that gives me 3 hours to ride/run/lift whatever and get a shower. It works for some, but not all.



It seems like a shorter, more intense workout would be a good thing to try...

Edited by WebFootFreak 2014-10-07 12:16 PM

5htp works great as a sleep aid indeed!

Well, this sorta answers a few questions.... I'm kinda the perfect Guinea Pig....I had a spectacular crash at IMCA, managed to finish the race, but I had some injuries that needed "attention." This took my season off the table, and made me slow things up a bit. Here's how that affected my sleep pattern.

Before my wreck. I was maybe getting 3-4 hours a night if I was lucky. I was doing double workouts most days, triples a couple times a week. 35-40 hours a week. I had a ton of energy and never really felt tired. Yes, when my head hit the pillow, I was OUT until my alarm went off.

Right after the wreck, I needed 6-7 hours just to maintain the same level of energy. I wasn't able to workout for a couple months, which made me stir crazy. I stayed up late because I couldn't sleep, my alarm went off for at least a few minutes before I would wake up.

Now, I'm back to swimming 6 days a week. 2 times a day. Still can't run, but I am doing some "light" biking again. I'm back to getting 4 hours a night. I feel like I have a ton more energy then I did for the past few months. Not quite where I was prior, but getting there.

About 4 for me also, mine is broken up, usally 10am to about 2pm. Then up, doing stuff, back for a nap about 1930 to 2115 and then up and off to work. There are days when it's 20 plus hours before sleep. I find that I can sleep grat after running and or swimming. After a really good ride, I am too amped up.
Joe

I sorta do, mornings being my evenings. I can run, shower and go right to sleep. I can swim, shower and sometimes be heavy eyed on the 10 minute drive home, right to sleep. I can do an easy 1 hour ride and even some intervals and sleep, ok. However if I do longer rides, longer then a few hours, I have a hard time sleeping.
Joe

For me the nature and intensityof the workout really matter. Swimming of any sort is like a sleep aid for me. No matter if it's an easy 1000m or a grueling 4000m workout, it will ensure a good night's sleep. Fortunately about 2/3 of my swims are in the late afternoon, so I get to reap the sleep benefits. An easy run doesn't affect my sleep one way or the other. Hard running in the evening definitely makes it hard to get to sleep. I normally run in the early morning anyway (around 5:15-6:15) to avoid heat and traffic. Not sure about easy evening rides since I almost never do them, but an intense evening ride or trainer session would also affect my sleep.

One other thing I've found is that any workout (or even just running errands or working a swim meet out in the sun) that makes me heat up (i.e. not swimming) can affect sleep as my core temperature seems to remain elevated when it is supposed to be dropping at bedtime. This might be more of an issue in a tropical climate, though.