Bodybuilding and Polyphasic sleep

[Lonewolf]

Any serious bodybuilders out there that have experimented with polyphasic sleep? I am dubious that it is possible as recovery from heavy workouts requires a lot of rest and at the moment I need 9 hours a night to stay healthy, including some daytime naps. Also, many people who experiment with polyphasic sleep look a bit underweight (judging by their blogs).
Steve seemed OK, but he was not pumping iron heavy once or twice a day and he looks pretty lean to me.

[Scott Bird]

Polyphasic, no - but biphasic doesn't seem to have any negative affect on recovery. I'm currently getting a little under 6 hours (roughly a 1.5/4.5 hour split), and it seems to result in better quality sleep than I was getting before.

A few observations :

The weights/reps haven't decreased for any exercise since the switch (a couple of exercises use the same weight as before, but other aspects have been adjusted).

My weight is stable, although I haven't been actively trying to change it. Same goes for bodyfat.

I feel more refreshed after the 4.5 hour core sleep than after 7-8 hours when I was monophasic.

During the first week of the transition from monophasic to biphasic, I knew I was going to be tired and kept away from the weights (no easy task, but worth doing). The first couple of sessions afterward were the same as you'd expect after a week's break for any other reason.

[Brutha]

Any serious bodybuilders out there that have experimented with polyphasic sleep?

Most of the Polyphasic people are geeks and most geeks aren't exactly serious bodybuilders.

I am dubious that it is possible as recovery from heavy workouts requires a lot of rest

If you rest six times a day you rest six time as often as someone who sleeps only one time.
The usage of Sleep is not linear.

[Lonewolf]

Yep, you're right about the geek element in polyphasic sleep experiments - I get the feeling that one of the driving reasons these guys are doing it is to avoid contact with other people.
I am currently sleeping biphasically, with an extra 2 X 10min naps but I still need 9 hours to recover properly. I am really going hard though, doing many one rep maximums and 20 rep breathing squats.

[Scott Bird]

Originally Posted by Lonewolf

Yep, you're right about the geek element in polyphasic sleep experiments - I get the feeling that one of the driving reasons these guys are doing it is to avoid contact with other people.

I'm not quite sure where that stereotype comes from - it certainly isn't the case with anyone I hang with (and I'd class myself as a geek).

Originally Posted by Lonewolf

I am currently sleeping biphasically, with an extra 2 X 10min naps but I still need 9 hours to recover properly. I am really going hard though, doing many one rep maximums and 20 rep breathing squats.

Lonewolf, what type of biphasic routine do you have at the moment? A couple of things that really make a difference with recovery time are :

1. separation between nap and core sleep
2. number of cycles in core sleep

[Scipio]

I believe the most growth hormone release is during the first two hours of monophasic sleep, and leuteinizing hormone release largely occurs in the morning just before you wake up after a full nights rest. Take that for what you will.

I am a bodybuilder but uninterested in polyphasic sleep.

[morias]

I'm a former bodybuilder and powerlifter (3rd in state competition some 20+ years ago). Now a days people call it biphasic sleep. Back then we called it napping or siesta (1-1.5 hrs) after the afternoon workout.

Of course it was much easier for me back in the day to take afternoon naps because I was in college and had a more flexible schedule. I no longer bodybuild or powerlift, so I don't know what the latest research has to say.

Good luck!

[Scott Bird]

Originally Posted by morias

I'm a former bodybuilder and powerlifter (3rd in state competition some 20+ years ago). Now a days people call it biphasic sleep. Back then we called it napping or siesta (1-1.5 hrs) after the afternoon workout.

Of course it was much easier for me back in the day to take afternoon naps because I was in college and had a more flexible schedule. I no longer bodybuild or powerlift, so I don't know what the latest research has to say.

Good luck!

Morias, with your current schedule, do you still take the naps?

[Lonewolf]

I nap too, but splitting sleep up into two halves doesn't seem to reduce the daily quota. Currently I sleep from 10pm - 6am, take a 10m nap at 9.30am and 12.00 midday, then a 20 min sleep at 3pm. I work out twice a day, going unusually hard and I eat very heavily with the goal of putting on weight. I drink a small amount of coffee and take ginko and ginseng.
On this schedule, I only just recover between workouts, i.e. it feels like I am progressing at maxiumum capacity.

[Scott Bird]

Lonewolf, over the past week or so I've been experimenting with a short nap and a longer core sleep. The result is that a slight reduction in the nap length equates to a large amount of oversleeping.

As an example, previously I had a 1.5/4.5 hour split with no problems. Reducing this nap to 10-15 minutes meant oversleeping 2 hours last night, and a similar amount the night before.

Perhaps by increasing the length of your nap to 90 minutes or so you will greatly reduce the length of core sleep you need. Try a 1.5/7.5 hour split for starters, and gradually decrease the length of core sleep until it feels right to you (and obviously doesn't affect your recovery).

[morias]

No nap time for me at the moment. Just a straight 5-6 hours of sleep a night. I just saw an article somewhere that said meditation can be more effective than napping. I'll see if I can find it.

[Lonewolf]

I meditate too, and it is great for mental clarity, but does not refresh the cells of the body in the same way that true sleep does.