[Scott Bird]

Originally Posted by Scott

For successful adapters:
1. How many naps per day do you take, and how long are they?
1a. Please specify each if your naps are not of equal length.
A: Currently I have two sleep periods, which include 1 nap and 1 period of core sleep. These are around 80 min and 4.5 hours respectively.

During the initial 30 day trial I began with a 1.5/3 hour split, and modified it to the current length after a couple of weeks.


2. What times are each of your naps?
A: the nap usually begins around 19:30, and the core sleep usually begins around 02:00.

3. During the adaptation, approximately how many days did it take until you were able to function at least as well as you did pre-adaptation?
A: 7

4. About how many times did you oversleep during your adaptation?
A: Based on the initial routine, 5 (although 3 of these would now be seen as normal).

5. Was there any sort of pattern or average duration of oversleeping? If so, how long?
A: The most common length was an extra 1 cycle (90 minutes) added to the core sleep. The core sleep is now 1 cycle longer, and the oversleeping problem is quite rare.

6. About how far from a given "naptime" can you shift a nap (earlier or later) and still function well?
A: The biphasic routine can be modified in a few ways for 2-3 days (and probably longer, I haven't actually tried it) successfully without causing problems. The nap can be moved either way by about 3 hours; it can be transformed into 2x20 min naps; or it can be ignored entirely in favour of monophasic sleep.

In the case of monophasic sleep, the requirement seems to be core sleep + (2 x nap length), or 7.5 hours in my case (instead of a daily total of just under 6 hours on a biphasic routine).

7. On a scale of 1 to 9 (9 being the best), let's say each of the following measures were a 5 before you became polyphasic. Please rate how (compared to a 5) you perform now in these areas:
-Alertness - 7
-Concentration -7
-Creativity -7
-Physical endurance (e.g. running) -5
-Physical strength -6 (probably due to training rather than sleep changes)
-Ability to fight illness - untested, though I rarely become ill in any case
-Ability to heal after injury -5
-Happiness -7
-Mental quickness -7

8. Please state approximately how many servings of each food group you consume per day:
-Grains
-Veggies
-Fruits
-Dairy
-Meats
-Cups/Liters of water
A: how large are the serving sizes?

8a. Was the above any different while you were adapting? If so, please specify how.
A: I ate more, generally high-carb foods.

8b. Did you find it necessary to change your diet before you could feasibly do this schedule? If so, please specify what your diet was before.
A: I didn't change my diet specifically for the change to biphasic sleep, but several changes made over the past couple of years undoubtedly helped. These include a reduction in both caffeine and alcohol consumption.

9. About how many hours per week do you exercise?
A: Strength training probably averages out at 30 min per day.

9a. About how many hours per week did you exercise during the adaptation?
A: None at all during the adaptation phase.

9b. What about pre-adaptation?
A: The same as now. No change at all.

10. In your opinion, what was the main factor which caused you to succeed?
A: Self confidence. I was never in any doubt that I would.

11. If you were on the schedule at one time but aren't anymore, what caused you to drop it?
A: Still on the routine. It's a permanent change.

For further information on my findings with biphasic sleep, I humbly offer up my 30 day summary. In addition to several observations on the change itself, this contains links to the individual days of the trial period.