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Sleep is more important than food

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Re: Sleep is more important than food

#11

Post by dgallagher »

nopassrecover wrote: post #4
brd wrote: post #2

"Sleep is important" has been a recurring theme for the last couple of years but I am one of the few that don't buy into it at all. Maybe I fall into the 2.5% but if I sleep 8+ hours I feel overslept and groggy. I function moderately to exceptionally well on 6 hours of sleep and often times end up getting more like 3-5 hours of sleep. I've read articles about high functioning executives that barely sleep at all and s…

I agree for the most part. However, try going for a regular run (say 5km) once per week, same day, and track your times. Let's say you hit about 30 minutes first time, and get it down to around 20 mins over a couple of weeks. Now try greater sleep deprivation than normal one week and watch your time plummet.

It's well known that sleep is an absolute requirement for athletes. If you don't get an optimal amount, performance will suffer: http://sportsmedicine.about.com/cs/conditioning/a/aa062800a....

Re: Sleep is more important than food

#13

Post by brd »

nopassrecover wrote: post #4
brd wrote: post #2

"Sleep is important" has been a recurring theme for the last couple of years but I am one of the few that don't buy into it at all. Maybe I fall into the 2.5% but if I sleep 8+ hours I feel overslept and groggy. I function moderately to exceptionally well on 6 hours of sleep and often times end up getting more like 3-5 hours of sleep. I've read articles about high functioning executives that barely sleep at all and s…

I agree for the most part. However, try going for a regular run (say 5km) once per week, same day, and track your times. Let's say you hit about 30 minutes first time, and get it down to around 20 mins over a couple of weeks. Now try greater sleep deprivation than normal one week and watch your time plummet.

Considering I used to run Xcountry and have been known to go out for 8+ mile runs in the middle of the night, I'd say for the most part my sleeping habits do not impact how I feel while running. In fact, I'd actually say more exercise is more important than more sleep as I feel much better in general when I am exercising/running regularly, regardless of my sleeping habits.

I will absolutely concede that there is a threshold where sleep deprivation will negatively impact my (or anyone's) ability to perform, its just a question of what that threshold actually is.

Re: Sleep is more important than food

#14

Post by kscaldef »

winestock wrote: post #3

Schools such as Caltech and MIT have rigorous curricula that proverbially requires constant study every day of the week just to stay in the middle of the pack. Naturally, most students cut back on sleep. Proponents of this approach are aware of this, even boast about it, saying that this is the best way to learn the material. On the other hand, numerous studies -- including the link at the top of this page -- conclud…

No, those schools have cultures that promote such behavior. I was a grad student and TA at Caltech and observed that the undergrads had horrible time management skills. Procrastination and heroic effort at the last minute were the norm.

(I'm not specifically picking on Caltech undergrads, BTW. I'm fairly sure this is typical at most schools.)

Re: Sleep is more important than food

#15

Post by nopassrecover »

dgallagher wrote: post #11
nopassrecover wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree for the most part. However, try going for a regular run (say 5km) once per week, same day, and track your times. Let's say you hit about 30 minutes first time, and get it down to around 20 mins over a couple of weeks. Now try greater sleep deprivation than normal one week and watch your time plummet.

It's well known that sleep is an absolute requirement for athletes. If you don't get an optimal amount, performance will suffer: http://sportsmedicine.about.com/cs/conditioning/a/aa062800a....

If it affects peak physical performance, it seems reasonable to suspect it affects peak mental performance (as studies seem to suggest). High functioning executives might get by on little sleep, but would they perform better on more sleep? Are hours clocked more important than output at the executive level?

Re: Sleep is more important than food

#17

Post by haploid »

brd wrote: post #2

"Sleep is important" has been a recurring theme for the last couple of years but I am one of the few that don't buy into it at all. Maybe I fall into the 2.5% but if I sleep 8+ hours I feel overslept and groggy. I function moderately to exceptionally well on 6 hours of sleep and often times end up getting more like 3-5 hours of sleep. I've read articles about high functioning executives that barely sleep at all and s…

I am in absolute agreement with this. I find that if I sleep more than 6 hours a night, I am actually more tired the following day.

Normally, I get 5 hours per night and I rarely experience low levels of functioning or excessive fatigue.

And as other have pointed out, the methodology of the cited experiment in the article is highly suspect. Any normal human being, locked in a room with no stimuli, is likely to sleep as much as possible to pass the time.

Re: Sleep is more important than food

#18

Post by flatline »

brd wrote: post #2

"Sleep is important" has been a recurring theme for the last couple of years but I am one of the few that don't buy into it at all. Maybe I fall into the 2.5% but if I sleep 8+ hours I feel overslept and groggy. I function moderately to exceptionally well on 6 hours of sleep and often times end up getting more like 3-5 hours of sleep. I've read articles about high functioning executives that barely sleep at all and s…

I need 8 and often more like 9 or 10 hours of solid sleep each night. If I'm well-rested, one night of 6 or 7 hours doesn't affect me, but it can't happen repeatedly. We may both just be outliers.

Re: Sleep is more important than food

#19

Post by adamzap »

giu wrote: post #10

A tool I've been using for the past days: http://sleepyti.me/ I'm currently testing it. The last two days I went to bed at a time which the tool suggested; getting up wasn't much of an issue, and I felt some improvements, but it's definitely too early to say that it works for me.

sleep_times = [wake_time - 1.5 * x for x in range(3, 7)][::-1]

Is that really all that's happening here?

Re: Sleep is more important than food

#20

Post by haploid »

nopassrecover wrote: post #15
dgallagher wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's well known that sleep is an absolute requirement for athletes. If you don't get an optimal amount, performance will suffer: http://sportsmedicine.about.com/cs/conditioning/a/aa062800a....

If it affects peak physical performance, it seems reasonable to suspect it affects peak mental performance (as studies seem to suggest). High functioning executives might get by on little sleep, but would they perform better on more sleep? Are hours clocked more important than output at the executive level?

No, it doesn't seem reasonable at all.

Athletic activity causes actual physical microdamage that takes rest time, nutrition, and hormones to repair. The elevated secretion of human growth hormone during REM sleep is a significant reason why athletes perform better on more sleep.

No such analogue exists for the human brain. Mental activities, at worst, deplete neurotransmitter levels. I have seen no evidence to suggest that massive dosages of sleep do a better job of restoring these levels than minimally adequate amounts.

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