My Take on Sleep
I don’t like giving general recommendations to people.
For example, one thing that I am not in complete agreement with are the general guidelines given for sleep. Most studies advocate getting 7-8 hours for optimal health.
While this may be true for some people, I don’t think it is set in stone for everyone.
I average about 4 1/2 -5 1/2 hours per night. I’m not quite sure how I do this, but it seems to work.
When my alarm goes off at 3:30am, I want to die. But after I stumble out of my bedroom, into the shower, and proceed to go in and out of REM as I condition my hair and wash myself like a Herbal Essences commercial, I wake up.
I sniff the bottle each time…what?
Yes, I am completely aware I am crazy. There is no need to wake up THAT early and I will physically die working on that little of sleep, yes yes I have heard it.
But if there is one thing I have found out about sleep so far in my life is that it is INDIVIDUAL and GOAL-DEPENDENT.
I don’t see it as any different from exercise and nutrition.
You have the standard guidelines from the American College of Sports Medicine that state to get in 30 minutes of exercise 3 times per week, but we all know that, depending on your goal, most of us need more.
And then you have the FDA recommended 2,000 calories per day.
What if you want to add mass? Do you continue eating 2,000 calories per day?
You could, but you wouldn’t gain much mass. You would have to increase your caloric intake to create a surplus.
And then you have the 7-8 hours of sleep standard. Is there not supposed to be any leeway there?
I beg to differ.
Since I adopted my current sleep regimen over a year and a half ago, I am stronger than I have ever been and getting more done than I ever have. Of course, there are afternoons when passing out on the floor seems like a legit option, but I think we all have those.
I know plenty of people who sleep far less than the standard, are productive as all get-out, and look great.
If you feel good and are getting results on less than 7-8 hours of sleep, what’s the big deal?
Take a look at a few of these famous examples;
Jay Leno: Sleeps 5 hours a night and manages to host “The Tonight Show” and do countless comedy gigs each year.
Donald Trump: Sleeps 3-4 hours per night
Herb Kelleher: Slept only 4 hours a night, while running Southwest Airlines
Bill Clinton: Slept 5-6 hours throughout his Presidency
There are lots of others on the link I provided at the bottom*, but it just goes to show that sleep is more a factor of what your goals are. Clearly, the people on the above list have done a LOT and sleeping less has helped them get all of it accomplished.
For me, I have a lot of things that I want to do in a very short period of time, so waking up at 3:30am is what I feel I have to do. It may or may not be necessary, but I don’t really worry about that. At this point (over a year), it has become normal.
NEVER easy…but normal. This is why caffeine exists!
Now, I am definitely not saying to start sleeping 3 hours a night, and go see what happens, but rather I just wanted to present the point that sleep is not a standard thing.
Some can handle less and some need more.
If you are cool sleeping 8 hours a day and you are getting what you want to get done, then more power to you. But if you are sleeping 8 hours a day and you aren’t accomplishing what you would like, cut an hour out.
Sleep according to your goals.
You may be pleasantly surprised by what you can handle!
Be your best,
Kasey, CSCS
*Check out the full article entitled, 19 Successful People Who Barely Sleep
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