Limits of early rising

[Xin]

I've been rising early for the past weeks. Now school is kicking in, and I wouldn't mind having at least an extra hour around.

I've read testimonies of guys like Tom Venuto (bodybuilder) being in peak form and only having 4h of sleep/night. Now that's insane.

At the very least, I want to wake up at 5am. The best option, though, would be 4am. Is that realistic? I know the body can adapt, but I don't want an actual decrease in my performance, both mental and physical.

I can't fully control my going to bed time, since I have some responsabilities around here, but I'm sure at 0.00 I can be in bed. Waking up, as I said, I'd like to do it at 4am. Doable, not advisable? Or is it a good idea? Would like to hear some opinions. =]

I can push myself to do it, I just don't know if it would be a good idea performance/health-wise.

[llong]

Sleep reduction is quite different from early rising. I'm a big fan of getting up early, but am skeptical about reducing your sleep amount.

Why not just go to bed earlier?

[Xin]

Originally Posted by llong

Why not just go to bed earlier?

My parents work till very late, meaning that till they come home I have to take care of my younger brother, clean up, make dinner... That stuff.

[bdp]

Reducing your sleep will likely negatively affect you.

I'm a 26 year old male in good shape with a clean diet. I've been getting an average of 5.5 hours of sleep a night for 4 months now, and it's starting to affect me.

There are some points in the day when I have a hard time focusing my eyes. Occasionally I get tired in class and I have no control whether I fall asleep or not. I can only lift weights every 7-10 days because my muscles take so long to recover, whereas they used to recover in 5-7 days.

Some people may thrive on <6 hours of sleep, but I need at least 6.5 or 7.

[Xin]

I understand.

Yet, I think I'll likely set with waking up at 5 am, and try to get to bed as earlier as I can, or as soon as I get sleepy.

I'm on the verge of making my dreams come true, and I won't let anything get on the way. =)

[EnduranceNinja]

I agree with everyone here. I am a little over two weeks trying to become an early riser. I am only trying for 6am. at first due to getting excited I was only getting 5hrs of sleep a night. But everyone is different and i have to get my 7hrs. I am feeling the effects of lack of sleep lately. I even thought of trying for less sleep to get more done. But my goal is same sleep just up earlier. I think if you get to a routine of 4am and your body adjust then some days you could get away with less sleep but not normally. Good luck with getting up at 4 am I am sure you can do it and good luck with school

[Brutha]

You should read a bit about biphasic/polyphasic sleep.

[Kaspian]

You might do okay on 4-5 hours of sleep if you take a 20-25 minute nap in the afternoon.

[llong]

Take it from me (I rise at 3:45am), quantity of sleep is very important.

You will get more done being awake and energizied for 17 hours than being awake and exhausted for 17 to 24 hours.

17 > 24

Especially long term.

[Xin]

Thanks guys.

I actually started waking up at 5 am, and I try to go to bed between 9 and 10 pm, wich accounts for 7 to 8 hours of sleep. Seems good. =)

[Matthew Shea]

That's a wise choice.