Sleeping

allother94

I’m working on my sleep. I’ve heard to plan for 7.5hrs. After a week, If you wake up 5mins before your alarm, you are good. If not, add 30 minutes to your sleep time and try again. Etc.

I’ve also seen where working out requires you to get more sleep. For example, LeBron often sleeps 12hrs to recover.

My question is that if I work out 3 times a week, should I plan for more sleep on the workout days or will that extra required sleep naturally spread and I should just plan to get the same amount of sleep each night? What do you think? I’m curious what you have to say...

SCoil123

I’m not sure how much you need since I believe sleep, much like water and calorie needs, is individual. I can only share my experience.

For me I was averaging 5.5-6.5hr for years. I didn’t realize what a problem it was until someone else suggested I needed more. When I made an effort to increase my sleep moving my average closer to 7.5hr a night I saw improvements in many areas. I have less food cravings, get sick less often, and perform better - both at my work and in my workouts. Occasionally I’ll sleep longer now and I’ve noticed my body only does this when I’m fighting a bug so 7.5 seems the right amount for me most of the time.

LyndaBSS

Personally, I think your body will tell you if you're getting the right amount of sleep. If you wake naturally, feeling refreshed and rested, you're getting enough sleep.

I wouldn't bother with any chart or article about what an elite athlete does.

kshama2001

allother94 wrote: »

I’m working on my sleep. I’ve heard to plan for 7.5hrs. After a week, If you wake up 5mins before your alarm, you are good. If not, add 30 minutes to your sleep time and try again. Etc.

I’ve also seen where working out requires you to get more sleep. For example, LeBron often sleeps 12hrs to recover.

My question is that if I work out 3 times a week, should I plan for more sleep on the workout days or will that extra required sleep naturally spread and I should just plan to get the same amount of sleep each night? What do you think? I’m curious what you have to say...

It's not likely that your workout is like LeBron's, so I wouldn't worry about that

I seem to need (slightly) LESS sleep when I workout regularly - perhaps I'm sleeping more deeply and better quality sleep means I need less of it.

Sure, try for 7.5 hours. Is your sleep hygiene dialed in? http://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/healthy/getting/overcoming/tips

apullum

allother94 wrote: »

I’m working on my sleep. I’ve heard to plan for 7.5hrs. After a week, If you wake up 5mins before your alarm, you are good. If not, add 30 minutes to your sleep time and try again. Etc.

I’ve also seen where working out requires you to get more sleep. For example, LeBron often sleeps 12hrs to recover.

My question is that if I work out 3 times a week, should I plan for more sleep on the workout days or will that extra required sleep naturally spread and I should just plan to get the same amount of sleep each night? What do you think? I’m curious what you have to say...

I wake up 5 minutes before my alarm on most mornings regardless of whether I’ve slept 4 hours or 8, even if the alarm is set for a different time than usual. So I would not find this advice to be helpful at all.

On long run days, I’m usually out like a light. I don’t find that I need extra sleep, though. Unless you are a competitive athlete, you’re probably not going to need 12 hours.

I would plan for your normal amount of sleep, and go to bed earlier if that’s not enough. If you’re still tired despite getting a full night’s rest, I would see a doctor to rule out things like sleep apnea.