How much should I be sleeping?

[InsertNameHere]

I read the article "How to become an early riser", and Steve said he sleeps abour 6.5 hours every night, sleeping a maximum of 7.5. The thing is, I was always told that I have to sleep more than an adult, me being 13, so I'm not sure what to do :\ Should I keep on sleeping 8-9 hours a day? I try to go to bed around ten and wake up around six, though I generally wake earlier and lie in bed until the alarm sounds. I get up awake, but at around noon I'm falling asleep :/ So, could anyone give me some advice then, please?

Thanks,
InsertNameHere

[Kaspian]

The average of what works for most people doesn't necessarily work for everyone. I find I do best when I figure out what works for me, regardless of what the recommendations are.

You could try this: Go to bed when you're tired, wake up when you feel alert (even if your alarm hasn't gone off yet), and consider taking a 20-25 minute nap around noon.

[Sam988]

Originally Posted by Kaspian

You could try this: Go to bed when you're tired, wake up when you feel alert (even if your alarm hasn't gone off yet), and consider taking a 20-25 minute nap around noon.

The problem with this is that some people, including me, if they wait to get our of bed when they feel "alert", they will stay in bed the entire day. I can easily sleep for up to 15 hours if i let myself stay in bed (which i love). I could probably stay there for more than 15 hours but that would be too much..


Now i don't know if InsertNameHere is like this, but if he is, then what i would suggest is to sleep for the amount of time that is going to make him go through the day without feeling tired. First he should make a trial sleeping for 6 hours, then if it's not enough, go for 7, and so on, until the amount best for him is found.

[Power]

I personally believe (since you mentioned you're 13) that you should get 8-9hrs of sleep. This is because your metabolism is higher and your day activities burns a lot of energy. You walk and run more than the average adult (unless you are a couch potato kid). Not only that, your body is developing to an adult and which requires the proper preparations. 6-7hrs is not enough in my opinion for your age.

If you want to be an early riser, hit the sack early. When I was your age I'd hit the sack at 8:30pm and I was up at 5:30-6am. Also, the next time you visit your doctor, asked him or her opinions

[lasti]

I also think that young people just need more sleep. You have still to grow and to develop in a physical way and a lot energy is needed for that.

Why don't do what Steve said: Just go to bed when you're tired and wake up at a fixed time. When you do this maybe don't sleep at noon at first or just a fixed amount of time so your body doesn't get confused.

An alternative would be to become a biphasic sleeper. I think that wouldn't be too difficult for you.

You sleep enough when you don't feel exhausted through the day. While you change your rhythm you can feel exhausted, though.

[Calculusaurus]

Originally Posted by Power

I personally believe (since you mentioned you're 13) that you should get 8-9hrs of sleep. This is because your metabolism is higher and your day activities burns a lot of energy. You walk and run more than the average adult (unless you are a couch potato kid). Not only that, your body is developing to an adult and which requires the proper preparations. 6-7hrs is not enough in my opinion for your age.

Sleep's for the brain. Physical activity has less to do with it than the fact that younger people's brains are in a developmental state.

Just sleep for as long as your body tells you to. This oftentimes interferes with school... which is unfortunate because proper sleep will do more for your brain than those first couple hours of school

[InsertNameHere]

Thanks for all your replies... I think I'll try sleeping 9 hours now, and see how I feel tomorrow.
By the way, I wanted to be biphasic, but my parents didn't let me :P

[Power]

Originally Posted by Calculusaurus

Sleep's for the brain. Physical activity has less to do with it than the fact that younger people's brains are in a developmental state. Just sleep for as long as your body tells you to.

Sleep is for the brain as well as for the body (rebuilding of cells and muscle tissues, immune system and even for hormonal regulations). Physical activity should be somewhat proportionate to sleep.

For adults, sleeping accordingly to what the body tells it may be sufficient enough (to some adults), but not for a 13 years old. On what grounds does a developing body (including the brain) only requires a restricted amount?
If you drink a can of soda (or Red Bull energy drinks), your body will tell you that you don't need much sleep. Sometimes, listening to your body requires more awareness.

As with all things, too less is not good and too much is also not good.
Latest research shows that people who sleeps 7-9hrs lives longer than people who sleeps less than 7hrs or more than 9hrs. 7-9hrs are the most efficient and anything outside those range is less efficient.

Professional athletes sleeps in between morning training and afternoon training sessions. Especially professional weight lifters/body builders, sleep is an important part in the rejuvenation of cells... yep, body and brain cells.

[Calculusaurus]

Originally Posted by Power

Sleep is for the brain as well as for the body (rebuilding of cells and muscle tissues, immune system and even for hormonal regulations). Physical activity should be somewhat proportionate to sleep.

Highly strenuous activity (e.g. a marathon) has been shown to lengthen sleep, while 30-60m of cardio can slightly shorten sleep (by making it more efficient). Either way it's not proportional and aside from highly strenuous activity, physical activity alone seems to have little effect on the body's alerting mechanism that regulates sleep duration.

Sleep duration is mostly determined by SCN.

And sleep itself appears to be *mostly* for the brain. Most people think that the increased sleep duration in youth is associated with the increased level of neuroplasticity.

On what grounds does a developing body (including the brain) only requires a restricted amount?
If you drink a can of soda (or Red Bull energy drinks), your body will tell you that you don't need much sleep.Sometimes, listening to your body requires more awareness.

Good point, and I should have clarified. Listening to your natural body's natural mechanisms is a recipe for optimal sleep. Caffeine, stress, alcohol, high carbs, or simply an honest level of excitement about something--all work in different ways to mask your natural sleep drive.

If you don't drink caffeine (or just drink it in the morning) your body should be fairly in tune with your body's alerting/sleeping mechanisms.

As with all things, too less is not good and too much is also not good.
Latest research shows that people who sleeps 7-9hrs lives longer..

Yes, the infamously overquoted and underanalyzed Kripke study. Would you trust a health study on 1million American's who followed the Standard American Diet? Maybe to an extent, but you wouldn't follow the results to the grave. If you don't follow the SAD, you should take a lot of health studies on general populations with a grain of salt, no?

Same goes for Kripke's (and the dozens of others) like it.

Professional athletes sleeps in between morning training and afternoon training sessions. Especially professional weight lifters/body builders, sleep is an important part in the rejuvenation of cells... yep, body and brain cells.

Morning naps are loaded with REM sleep. REM leads to improved motor skills.

A healthy sleep/wake cycle helps regulate healthy hormone cycles, too. The Growth Hormone is released during sleep, but without a healthy sleep/wake habit, levels of GH perhaps may be lower. But sleep itself doesn't really do anything to body cells.

[Fullcrum]

Hey, I'm 16 and I think those people telling us that we need more sleep are either really uninformed or just spouting whatever their doctor told them.

If you improve your diet your sleep needs will decrease.

I'd recommend adding more greens to your diet. That decreased Steve Pavlina's need for sleep when he went raw, and it has decreased my need for sleep. Now I can go for 7 hours and I've only very recently started drinking green smoothies. And I'm not 100% raw. If you can do that (and I know how it is with parents; "Organic is too expensive! Greens are too expensive!" etc.), your need for sleep will probably be reduced. At least drink a quart of green smoothies everyday.

[Power]

(to Calculusaurus)

.... interesting points

[InsertNameHere]

Well, my sleep seems to have settled around 7 hours, or 7 and a half. 9 hours was too much.

Originally Posted by Power

For adults, sleeping accordingly to what the body tells it may be sufficient enough (to some adults), but not for a 13 years old. On what grounds does a developing body (including the brain) only require a restricted amount?

If its not enough for children to sleep as much as their body tells them, well, how did children know when to sleep back when there were no clocks? Of course, there was no soda or caffeine, but I don't drink either of them.

[Power]

I think there was a misunderstandings InsertNameHere, let me explain:

"Sleeping accordingly to what the body tells it"
I meant for adults only, because some adults' body would tell them to sleep only for 5-6hrs. There are many reasons for this.

But for you, 7-9hrs is good. I personally think that if you (insertnamehere) get less than 7hrs, then you are not getting the best rest.

"well, how did children know when to sleep back when there were no clocks?"
Well my generation had clocks, my parents generations... they had roosters!
My parents used to tell me stories; When it start to become dark they would start to cook for dinner. They would have a family dinner, clean up and sit around the fireplace and tell stories. Then everyone goes to bed. This would be around 8:30pm-9:30pm whether you knew the time or not, whether you are sleepy or not. Nothing else to do and there was no TV... actually there was no electricity Radios used batteries and no more broadcast after 7pm.
The first rooster would crow around 4:30am-5:30am. Next time it would crow around 6am-6:30am, then again around 7am... Kinda like your 'Snooze' button on your alarm clock

Nowadays, there are so many things to keep a kid awake, not just drinks... TV, XBox, Playstation, computers, telephones, etc... As long as you get your 7-9hrs then you should be good. Have you tried sleeping for 9hrs and find out if you get sleepy in the afternoon? I do agree with the green vegies.

[Power]

Originally Posted by Fullcrum

Hey, I'm 16 and I think those people telling us that we need more sleep are either really uninformed or just spouting whatever their doctor told them.
If you improve your diet your sleep needs will decrease.

I don't think grown ups are spouting what the doctor says. Hey, when you're 16 you don't need sleep When I was 16, I even thought I was Superman Invincible and undestructible... wait until you get older

You will be one of those people on this forum telling others to get proper rest and another 16yo will be telling you that you are uninformed and that you are just spouting what your doctor said... LMAOROFL.

[Fullcrum]

Haha of course Power. most of my friends sleep more than most adults I know, and they wake up kind of dazed, while the adults wake up in somewhat of an "oh God another day - I have to do stuff!" frenzy.

I think they're both equally losing strategies.

I still implore those who want less sleep to add more greens to their diet.

[Brutha]

Latest research shows that people who sleeps 7-9hrs lives longer..

Not really according to the Kripke study people who sleep 5 hours are healthier on average than those who sleep 8 or 9 hours.

If however things like regular excersie or having a healthy diet reduce the amount of sleep that people get, the direction of the causation isn't clear.

Additionally the study is about adults. Children may have other sleep needs.

Sleep duration is mostly determined by SCN.

That doesn't mean that sleep hasn't other functions as well.

I think that responding to the feedback of your own body should be the way to go.
Being able to awake without an alarm clock should be one of the feedback mechanismns that show that you are getting enough sleep.

I think that the idea of measuring sleep quantity to know whether someone is getting enough rest is flawed.

[ar81]

I have found that I use to need to sleep a lot, but I rarely get the chance to sleep that amount of time.

[Power]

Originally Posted by Brutha

Not really according to the Kripke study people who sleep 5 hours are healthier on average than those who sleep 8 or 9 hours.

This research shows the opposite
Source: Christer Hublin, MD, PhD; Markku Partinen, MD, PhD; Markku Koskenvuo, MD, PhD; Jaakko Kaprio, MD, PhD. Sleep and Mortality: A Population-Based 22-Year Follow-Up Study. Journal SLEEP. Vol 30. No. 10. 1245-1253.


I've read too much research that contradicts one another. I figured that as nature intended it, man would sleep when it is dark. Then darkness should only be for 5hrs, but it is not. Just my personal opinion.

[Brutha]

One study has >1.000.000 the other around 20.000. I rather trust the >1.000.000 one. The 20.000 study has a p value of 0.02. In addition it didn't run 8 our sleepers against six hour sleepers since they hadn't enough data for that task.

[InsertNameHere]

Well, thanks to everyone for their contributions, I've been experimenting with my sleeping hours... 9was way too much, I was sleepy all day... I think I'm happy with 7, though I do feel a bit tired... :P thanks again