Building Muscle With Less Than 8 Hours Sleep

darreneatschicken
darreneatschicken Posts: 669 Member
edited November 2019 in Fitness and Exercise
Let's say you eat enough to hit your caloric goals.

You never skip a gym day. And you're always lifting heavy.

But you also live a busy life. Therefore, you only sleep about 6-7 hours a night. Every morning you wake up tired and groggy.

On the weekends you have massive sleep dept and sleep 10-11 hours.

Can you still build muscle?

Replies

  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    Of course. 🙂
  • JBanx256
    JBanx256 Posts: 1,479 Member
    It's not ideal, but yes, it can be done.

    When I'm on rotation at work, I am lucky to get 5 hours/night.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    If you need more sleep (8hrs isn't a universal need) your training and recovery probably won't be absolutely optimal but it won't stop you building muscle.

    Very few people have the luxury of being able to prioritise their training over and above all the other demands on their time.
  • RovP6
    RovP6 Posts: 108 Member
    You are not alone by the way. I'm lucky if I get 6-7 hours a night sleep. Catching up at the weekend will help but if you really want to know how much sleep your body needs then you might want to try this:

    Go to bed at the same time every night and don't set an alarm. See what time you naturally wake up. If you can do that for a week that will give you an idea of how much sleep your body needs. Once you know that, say it's 7 hours, then you can roughly state that you need 49 hours sleep every week (7x7 right). So if you only get 6 hours sleep on 5 days (30 hours) just make sure you get 8 hours on a Sat and Sun and you'll be there or there abouts. I heard a great podcast on Boom Boom Performance site about sleep. You should check it out here. It's episode 310 with Greg Potter :)
  • Whydahdad71
    Whydahdad71 Posts: 319 Member
    Exhaustion is an unhealthy lifestyle longterm but if it's not always the case you definitely should grow.
  • Chieflrg
    Chieflrg Posts: 9,097 Member
    Probably. More than likely not optimal.

    Not sure what you mean by always lifting heavy since that doesn't tell me anything about your training history.
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    While adequate sleep is ideal, it depends on your body and how much sleep you need to perform but it can be done. I ran my second bulk when my son was 8 months old and waking up multiple times per night. I had no choice. Now I am not a bodybuilder competing but I was very pleased with my personal results.
  • rose2_0
    rose2_0 Posts: 150 Member
    6-7 hours of sleep is exhaustion? Oh, to be young.

    Great sleep is ideal. Good sleep is fine. As long as your training and nutrition is on point. And don’t forget rest days.
  • jeffjeff85
    jeffjeff85 Posts: 118 Member
    rose2_0 wrote: »
    As long as your training and nutrition is on point. And don’t forget rest days.

    And THERE is the issue. 'Enough' sleep is enough to allow ypu.to DO the workouts.



  • MikePTY
    MikePTY Posts: 3,814 Member
    I'm lucky if I get 6 hours most week days.
  • mom23mangos
    mom23mangos Posts: 3,069 Member
    Sleep is my #1 performance factor. I need a min of 9hrs. I rarely get it during the week, so I do what you do and compensate on the weekend. Sometimes with naps if my body just shuts down. I've noticed a pattern where I kick *kitten* on Monday and then each day after that it just goes downhill. I've been thinking about rearranging my workout schedule in order to optimize sleep. I've just made it such a habit to get up at 5am and go each morning before work because I know I'll find excuses to do it later. So it's like do I choose consistent sub-optimal workouts vs. less frequent more optimal workouts. I should probably stick to the consistent. Sorry for the rambles.
  • ElizabethKalmbach
    ElizabethKalmbach Posts: 1,415 Member
    The number of hours isn't always equivalent to the quality of the sleep. If you have concerns, do what you can to improve your sleep hygiene (Avoid screens 2 hours before bed, stick to as much of a schedule as possible, acknowledge the long half life of caffeine, try to avoid workouts directly before bed, etc.). Genetics, general health, and developmental phase will heavily influence how much sleep you need to be in optimal condition, so try to accommodate what you know and understand about yourself as you build your lifestyle and habits.

    You can still build muscle on little sleep, as long as your muscles get adequate rest between workouts to recover, but as everyone else has mentioned, you won't be getting the optimal results for your body's potential.
  • ElizabethKalmbach
    ElizabethKalmbach Posts: 1,415 Member
    PS - Love your screen name. I seriously had to double and triple check that you weren't my brother with a 10-years-out-of-date progress photo.
  • aokoye
    aokoye Posts: 3,495 Member
    rose2_0 wrote: »
    6-7 hours of sleep is exhaustion? Oh, to be young.

    Great sleep is ideal. Good sleep is fine. As long as your training and nutrition is on point. And don’t forget rest days.

    It's not just an issue of age though. It's also has to do with various health issues, what exactly you're doing both exercise wise and in your day to day life, in my case what time I'm waking up, the quality of sleep you're getting, and so on.
  • Chieflrg
    Chieflrg Posts: 9,097 Member
    jeffjeff85 wrote: »
    rose2_0 wrote: »
    As long as your training and nutrition is on point. And don’t forget rest days.

    And THERE is the issue. 'Enough' sleep is enough to allow ypu.to DO the workouts.



    If there is auto regulation and correct load management there really isn't a significant issue at all regarding DOING the workout.

    We can't assume there is a issue on that regards without knowing more info.
  • jeffjeff85
    jeffjeff85 Posts: 118 Member
    Chieflrg wrote: »

    If there is auto regulation and correct load management there really isn't a significant issue at all regarding DOING the workout.

    We can't assume there is a issue on that regards without knowing more info.

    I dont think we're talking about the same thing here.
  • allother94
    allother94 Posts: 588 Member
    edited November 2019
    Yes, you can build muscle. It’s the 80/20 rule. You will get 80% of the benefits by doing 20% of the right things. Losing out on some sleep will just keep you from some of those extra 20% of gains. 80% is good enough.
  • cupcakesandproteinshakes
    cupcakesandproteinshakes Posts: 1,158 Member
    I rarely get 8 hours. I’ve built muscle. Sleep is an important factor but training and nutrition and limiting stress levels are also important. Plus where did this magic 8 hours come from? People need varying amounts of sleep to function.

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