The 90 Minute Sleep Cycle
In this article, Glen Rhodes talks about the sleep cycle that he tried to use on his sleeping pattern. He now sleeps 3 hours a night and power nap for 90 minutes in the evening. He found out this is far better than getting a 8 hours of sleep. There is SOME research behind it. For instance Glen referenced a study from Applied Cognitive Studies: But it’s something to experiment.
“Studies show that the length of sleep is not what causes us to be refreshed upon waking. The key factor is the number of complete sleep cycles we enjoy. Each sleep cycle contains five distinct phases, which exhibit different brain- wave patterns. For our purposes, it suffices to say that one sleep cycle lasts an average of 90 minutes: 65 minutes of normal, or non-REM (rapid eye movement), sleep; 20 minutes of REM sleep (in which we dream); and a final 5 minutes of non-REM sleep.
The REM sleep phases are shorter during earlier cycles (less than 20 minutes) and longer during later ones (more than 20 minutes). If we were to sleep completely naturally, with no alarm clocks or other sleep disturbances, we would wake up, on the average, after a multiple of 90 minutes–for example, after 4 1/2 hours, 6 hours, 7 1/2 hours, or 9 hours, but NOT after 7 or 8 hours, which are not multiples of 90 minutes. In the period between cycles we are not actually sleeping: it is a sort of twilight zone from which, if we are not disturbed (by light, cold, a full bladder, noise), we move into another 90-minute cycle.
A person who sleeps only four cycles (6 hours) will feel more rested than someone who has slept for 8 to 10 hours but who has not been allowed to complete any one cycle because of being awakened before it was completed…. ”
Why Does Sleeping To Much Make Me Feel Even More Tired?
“PhD with expertise in insomnia here. Your “sleep clock” as they refer to it is actually a group of cells in a part of your brain called the suprachiasmatic nucleus. We also refer to this as a circadian rhythm. Sleep is regulated by two processes, the “sleep clock” (your circadian rhythm) and a sleep drive (this builds throughout the day and is associated with a buildup of a neuromodulator called adenosine). If you “oversleep” your sleep drive may be low but your circadian rhythm is thrown off (it’s regulated by consistency and especially waking up at the same time daily). In essence it’s confused. This confusion causes some people to feel more rested and some people to feel more sleepy. One additional curve-ball in this is that if you “oversleep” you may sometimes be waking up in the middle of a sleep-cycle which will also cause you to feel sleepy for a period of time.”
“Sometimes you’re just dehydrated. Have a bottle of water beside you when you wake up. It will take that lethargic feeling away.
Edit: Another explanation is that oversleeping messes up with your circadian rythm (your “sleep clock”) which signals the brain that you’re up and ready to go or travelling to dreamland”
Listen To Classical Music (60bpm) To Raise Serotonin & GABA
Listen to One Hour of Johann Sebastian Bach at night
Why?
Music affects the brain’s organization, abilities and neurochemistry, through its melody,rhythm and frequency.
Classical Music raises the level of the neurotransmitters Serotonin and GABA in your brain and peripheral nervous system. Serotonin is involved in the transmission of nerve impulses that are responsible for relaxation and wellbeing. GABA is the major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the body, especially for reducing muscle tone and responsible for brain balance and creativity.
Especially the Classical music from the Baroque period with a 60 beats per minute beat pattern, affects the amplitude and frequency of brain waves, measurable through QEEG, in a very calming way.
The best known composer from the Baroque period is Johann Sebastian Bach, which I have seen the best results with, as far as calming the brain at night after a busy day..
Quality sleep is essential for your progress and performance…
There is no substitute for great sleep….
You want to slow down faster at night and improve your sleep, get some Johann Sebastian Bach from Spotify, iTunes or Amazon and enjoy a great night of sleep…
Sleeping Naked
No one can attest for sure the percentage of people who sleep in the nude.
I have read from less than 10% to 33% regardless of the sex of the person.
One source says that 7% of males and 83% of females sleep in the nude. The percentage does not really matter for this readership, people who come to this site want to achieve faster their goals of getting lean.
How can sleeping naked improve your body composition? Four reasons:
1. You need to cool off at night in order to bring down the level of cortisol.
Excess cortisol leads to increased pro inflammatory belly fat storage and catabolism of muscle mass, especially in the extremities. Making less cortisol at night, means making more during the day when you can put it to good use. Depending on when it is secreted, cortisol is either your friend or your enemy. When waking up or during workouts it is your friend. When you keep it around at night, it becomes your enemy.
2. If you are too hot when you sleep, your production of growth hormone suffers.
You need optimal levels of growth hormone to repair all tissues in the body and also to burn fat. Healthy growth hormone production also benefits your immune system, and lowers your risk of diabetes and heart disease.
3. Melatonin
Besides growth hormone, melatonin is also another anti-ageing hormone, that is associated with deep restful sleep. As with growth hormone, being overly warm shuts down its production leading to disrupted sleep.
4. The same raw material that makes cortisol, pregnenolone, also makes testosterone.
Hence, if you make too much cortisol, you are limiting your testosterone production! The consequences being that building muscle and burning fat becomes harder!
So here are the physiological reasons why sleeping naked can get you to a leaner more muscular body sooner.
Understanding Sleep Deprivation
Sleep affects everything, including a number of metabolic pathways that influence nutrition and performance. Not getting enough sleep can increase your body mass, decrease your cognition and increase your risk of heart disease, hypertension, and diabetes. It can also increase your risk for psychiatric conditions, including depression and substance abuse.
3 Key Hormones
Long-term sleep deprivation can affect three hormones that are important for athletic performance: leptin, ghrelin, and cortisol. High levels of ghrelin and low levels of leptin are associated with less sleep and weight gain.
Leptin
Leptin is a satiety hormone released by adipocytes, or fat cells, in the body. It assists with the regulation of appetite and metabolism. Your leptin levels are lowest in the morning, and they peak in the evening.
High leptin levels limit hunger and control appetite, while low levels stimulate hunger and increase your intake of foods.
When you are sleep deprived, leptin resistance occurs. This means your body tells your brain to stop eating, but your brain can’t get the signal because leptin levels are so low. The result is you feel hungrier and don’t feel satisfied as quickly. So you eat more and keep going. It becomes a vicious cycle.
Ghrelin
Secreted by the stomach, ghrelin is a hunger hormone that promotes slow-wave sleep and the nocturnal release of growth hormone. Less sleep leads to higher morning levels of ghrelin, which increases appetite and the accumulation of lipids in visceral fatty tissue, such as the abdominal zone.
Cortisol
Cortisol is a stress hormone that is secreted through the adrenal glands. High cortisol levels cause exhaustion during the day and insomnia at night and can increase the inflammatory response throughout the body.
Foods To Aid Sleep
Eat foods that will help maintain and increase serotonin levels. Serotonin levels rise and fall based on diet and vitamin intake. High levels provide restful sleep, while low levels lead to food cravings, insomnia and depression. Rice and bananas are two easy options.
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Sources: ISAAC & Charles Poliquin, Charles Poliquin (Sleeping Naked)
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