Getting in shape with little sleep

cfgreear

Okay so to start off my question heres a little background. I am a dad of 2 kids and my wife works evening to night and I work 2 jobs in the day and watch the kids alone at night and clean the house. I can manage the food just fine, and the workout schedule I can do, but how does anyone find time to sleep? Is that really needed for being healthy and getting into shape? I average 4 or 5 hours a night on sleep and do feel exhausted often, but theres just not enough hours in the day.

rosebarnalice

It's been argued that chronic sleep deprivation is the most common undiagnosed disorders in the U.S. "The SLeep Doctor" Michael Breus argues that 6.5 to 7 hours is what is necessary for peak mental and physical performance, but he also puts forth the idea of different sleep "chronotypes"--that is, that certain people reall ARE morning people or night owls, and that synching your sleep with your chronotype may be more important that the tot al number of hours of sleep you get (see, e.g., https://www.sleepscore.com/chronotype-ideal-bedtime/)

For more on the science of sleep and the link between sleep and both mental and physical health, check out: https://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/features/important-sleep-habits#1 and http://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/healthy/science

BasedGawd412

Lost 30lbs working 2 full time jobs 80 hours a week minimal and I'm also a parent of 2 young gentlemen. Very exhausting but I got it done. Now a days I operate off 4 to 6 hours of sleep majority of the time. My body just grew accustomed to operating off less sleep.

watts6151

All depends only your goals
You can get ok results with less sleep
But it’s far from ideal. Great podcast
From revive stronger

https://youtu.be/pz9rtJ0AGwM

kimny72

You have to find the balance between your goals and the actions required to reach them. Some people do find that during periods where they have a packed schedule, they are better off scaling back their workouts a little to get more sleep. Sleep is certainly important for good health, as well as muscle recovery. Sometimes it's more a question of working (out) smarter, not harder too.

How many hours are you working out per week, and what kind of workouts?
Are either of your jobs physical?
What are your weight and fitness goals?

ETA: Lots of people insist they are fine on 4 or 5 hrs of sleep, and I'm sure there are outliers who really are. But often we just get used to a lower level of energy, reaction time, and focus without realizing how much we are actually handicapped by a deficit of sleep. It can subtly affect your motor skills, relationships, will power, and decision making without you even realizing how much better "normal" would actually be

midlomel1971

I struggle with this, too. Every day it's the same question - do I get exercise? Or do I sleep? Which is worse to skip out on? If I work out at night it's usually really late, around 10:30. So, I end up getting about 5-6 hours a night, which I understand will eventually kill me. But so will being overweight. So, I'm not sure what the answer is but I feel your struggle!