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I usually feel like I need 9 hours sleep after a good workout. Am I doomed?
by klipt 8y ago
I usually feel like I need 9 hours sleep after a good workout. Am I doomed?
- amelius 8y agoI used to need 9 hours after a workout, but that doesn't seem to be the case anymore after three years of weightlifting. Perhaps because I now know which exercises are bad for me. Or perhaps because I'm more careful while performing the exercises.
- FrojoS 8y agoDisclaimer: Not an expert. When you do a hard workout for the first few times, there are a lot of neural adaptations. These result in very quick gains of strength within the first few weeks, I think mostly due to better muscle recruitment. At the same time, these neural adaptations are taxing on the brain/CNS. This is especially true of exercises that require intramuscular coordination. In my personal experience it makes it very hard to fall asleep when I learn a new, complex power exercise (e.g. campusing [1]). It also seems logical that you need more sleep for those neural adaptations to take place. Now, once you are experienced in the exercise, there are much less neural adaptations, hence the perceived plateau in strength gains. The way you make gains now, is mostly through muscle growth (hypertrophy) which takes much longer but doesn't tax the CNS as much. This might explain your observation of needing less sleep after intense workouts, now that you have more experience in your sport. Try a new intense exercise and you will likely experience the above described process again. Just don't injure yourself! [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ACyeOP-Hxo&t=5m40s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ACyeOP-Hxo&t=5m40s
- zzzeek 8y agoYup, your risk of eventual death is about 100%
- tonyedgecombe 8y agoI know it's anecdotal but so far I haven't died.
- dcolkitt 8y agoTake note that what sleep researchers count as hours of sleep is not the same as what we colloquially count as sleep. Let's say you get in bed, lights off, at 11 PM and wake up at 7 AM. Most people would call that an eight hour night of sleep. But in reality it takes the average person 20-30 minutes before actually falling into sleep. The average person also wakes up four or more times a night, sometimes for ten minutes or longer. Often we don't even remember all the times we get up. A lot of people also awaken before their scheduled wakeup times, and spend 20+ minutes in pre-dawn twilight. Add it altogether and an "eight hour night" may actually only constitute 6.5 hours of actual physiological sleep. The only way to know for sure how much sleep you get is to use a device specifically designed for the purpose.
- redka 8y agoDo you have any specific devices in mind?
- Tomte 8y agoWithings (ex Nokia) is selling mats that you put under your sheets and where you lie on. I think Apple does, too, but only in America. That's probably the best device for home-use. But sleep labs are using EEGs, cameras, microphones and puls oxymeters for a reason. Don't expect medical-grade results from a home-use device. Less accurate are several kinds of fitness trackers/smart watches, very inaccurate are smartphone apps.
- redka 8y agoI wish the Withings mat would have the option to wake me up when optimal time comes. I had a fitness tracker that did that but it was very subtle and started working after a few weeks.
- SmellyGeekBoy 8y agoAre you thinking of the Pebble watch? Maybe in combination with some Android app? I had this setup years ago and I do miss it. I'll have to see whether it can be replicated with my current Fitbit, last I checked it couldn't but it was a while ago.
- oarabbus_ 8y agoWell, it's morbid, but we're all doomed.
- arkaic 8y agoIsn't it also because participants of these studies who sleep too much does so because they already have health problems that keeps them in bed?