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Hannibal
10-19-10, 1:32 pm
Hello all. I apologize ahead of time as I haven't done a lengthy search to find threads that exist about my question.
So if they are already there please point me in the right direction, otherwise I welcome any ideas or comments.
For those of us who don't have lots of free time to train and then sleep is it better to eat more calories to fuel yourself for your training time or....
My current situation doesn't allow for considerable gym time except in the early am. I work 12 hours a day, right now the hour or so I get for my lunch break doesn't adequately give me enough time to train the way I want. I have read other places that taking in extra calories can help fuel the fire, but I am worried that lack of sleep, going from 8-9 hours to more like 6 will have considerable side effects... If any of you are living this way please hook me up with some advice or your solutions that are working for you.
Regards
Hannibal

IronWilson
10-19-10, 2:21 pm
Go by how you feel. Realistically, it is impossible for any of us to 8-9 hours of sleep EVERY night. 6 hours is adequate, although not optimal for most people. Personally, I am able to function fine on 6 hours of sleep most of the time.

If you feel run down after only getting 6 hours of rest, take the day off and reduce the days in your training split. If you feel that you can train, go ahead and do it. It doesn't have to be the same every week. You can skip a day if you feel particularly tired as opposed to a different day when you felt energized getting the same amount of sleep.

SpankyC
10-19-10, 2:53 pm
shit....i only get 1-3 hours sleep a night....its been like this for almost a year now....tried everything from medicine,supplements,methods,doctor, everything!

Maccabee
10-19-10, 3:49 pm
When I was in college I slept 10-12 hours a day. I know! Waste of time!

Currently, I have more responsibilities so I sleep about 5 hours a day.

The point is as time went by and I had more important things to do I ended up sleeping less and less.

Now my body has adapted and I feel fine. The key is to do it slowly. If your sleeping 8 hours a day...try sleeping for 7 hrs a day until you get used to it. Or drop it down by 30 mins or even 15 mins until you adapt.

Since your sleeping less you will also be able to consume 1-2 more meals. The nutrients will help you recover.

I rely on food more now than before to recover and accomplish my goals.

Good luck to you.

PORTERHOUSE
10-19-10, 4:10 pm
i feel for you man. Its good that you're still getting your ass in there though, too many people would assume they don't have the time if they were wearing your shoes.

Sleep is definitely important, but so is training. It's unfortunate, but sometimes you have to give up one thing to make something else work. There's only so many hours in the day ya know?

Assuming that you are gaining, i would try and eat a big ass meal every night right before bed. When you get up, take in some quick protein, like whey, with some simple sugars and aminos (perhaps nitro) and get in there and train. I know beasts who train like this at 330-4 in the am.

I currently have the luxury now of not having to do this, and I take it for granted. But I'm graduating soon and who knows where I'll be a year from now.

Good luck to you bro.

Chosen One
10-19-10, 5:09 pm
The hour is prime time to train if you can make it work, cut down some of your exercises and rest periods and you can get a grueling workout in an hour, good luck brother

SpankyC
10-19-10, 5:32 pm
When I was in college I slept 10-12 hours a day. I know! Waste of time!

Currently, I have more responsibilities so I sleep about 5 hours a day.

The point is as time went by and I had more important things to do I ended up sleeping less and less.

Now my body has adapted and I feel fine. The key is to do it slowly. If your sleeping 8 hours a day...try sleeping for 7 hrs a day until you get used to it. Or drop it down by 30 mins or even 15 mins until you adapt.

Since your sleeping less you will also be able to consume 1-2 more meals. The nutrients will help you recover.

I rely on food more now than before to recover and accomplish my goals.

Good luck to you.

How do you fall and stay asleep? I forgot....do you just feel drowsy and then lay down? This is serious my body completely forgot how to sleep....for the last 8 months or so ive been getting only 1-3 hours of sleep a night...

GC
10-19-10, 8:10 pm
My buddy who was on a deployment had a shitty work schedule similar to yours. He brought it down 3 days a week in the gym, thus allowing for more recovery time and less calorie expenditure. Flooded his workouts with mass building exercises, ate everything he could and managed to put on about 15 lbs.

Hannibal
10-19-10, 11:26 pm
First off, I am a former Marine with serious sleep issues already. Typically I sleep in 4 hour intervals, sometimes I can get back to sleep other times, not so much.
I have dealt with ominous schedules before although I was in an extreme case of vigilance that required much more stamina, not to mention when shit starts to hit the fan sleep is the last thing to really worry about.
Like I wrote before, my hour a day workout is ok. However, I'm looking at changing my schedule to shifting my sleep so I can actually get to the gym early and use my lunch hour for cardio. Since I'm not training for a contest and relatively have no interest in that, I'm just an iron pig that uses the gym for stress relief, although the flip side is also that I'm trying to gain mass and beat some personal goals over a long haul.
I'm determined to shine, sweat and have trouble lifting my legs to get into the shower due to serious squatting.
I will heed the advice you all gave me.
Regards
Hannibal

Maccabee
10-20-10, 12:27 am
How do you fall and stay asleep? I forgot....do you just feel drowsy and then lay down? This is serious my body completely forgot how to sleep....for the last 8 months or so ive been getting only 1-3 hours of sleep a night...

This really sucks. I went through a similiar issue just weeks ago.

Here are some of the things that helped me.

1. Go to sleep when you are tired as hell. I really mean that. Work your ass off with what ever it is you do for a living and training. There were times I could not sleep in the past. A good 15 sets of squats will make you sleep!

2. Dont eat for 2 hours before going to bed. If your gonna go sleep at 12 am make sure you stop eating right at 10pm. Some times people cant sleep with a full stomach.

3. Take some Animal PM. I dont know if you have used it yet. Its a lot better then all the other stuff out there.

4. STRESS! Get rid of it if you have any!

5. Meditation...I AM NOT JOKING! A lot of people laugh at me when I tell them I meditate. When I started meditating and just clearing my mind...I started sleeping better.

6. I will be straight with you. I dont follow the worlds schedule. I dont go to sleep at 12am and wake up at 6am. I literally go to sleep when I am tired. This week I went to sleep at 6 am several times. I slept for a good vicious 5 hrs and I felt awesome.

Right now its 12:00 am in Queens here. I probably wont go to sleep until 4 am because I am just not tired. Listen to your body. Drink when thirsty...Eat when hungry...Sleep when exhausted.

7. If you really cant sleep then get your ass up and live life!

GOOD LUCK! Keep in touch and let me know whats up.