sleep?

poobum

what are the auctuall effects of a bad sleeping pattern? how many hours should i get a day etc? i have horrible sleeping patterns and have a mild case of insomnia so i was curious what are the effects this would have on me? whats the minimum i should get a night? is it true that the sleep you get before 12 is better then the sleep after(i cant see why this woulld be true but my dad always says it!)?

**Timbuk2**

hmmm... i never heard of the before 12 one but I know that you should get at minimum 8 hours sleep

I would nearly always make sure to get it right, even when I was a child. Because the thing is, if you sleep less than 8 hours, you feel tired. But if you sleep over 8 hours (say 10) you feel tireder (believe it or not) than you do if you get 8 hours sleep.

mloc

8 hours is a VERY general average. People vary dramatically, usually in the 6-10 hour region. Have a look here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_deprivation

Dragan

I have spent many years getting by one 4 to 5 hours a night, because this is all i really need. For the last year i have been able to get in 8 hours a night and i don't really feel hugely different.

Sleep in very important to recovery from training etc, but if you are not training hugely hard it is not a major issue. As someone who gets really bad cases of insomnia ( 5 days without sleep anyone? ) i find that when i can get a lot of sleep i will, as while less sleep does not impede my ability to function in any way it can be frustrating, and going a few days with no sleep whatsover can be severly debilitating.

Sleep is important because during the early part of sleep a lot of Growth Hormone is released which your body needs to repair and build muscle and for other functions.

Most people get far more sleep than they need however.

poobum

thanks! appreciate the info!