How to find out how much sleep one needs?

[Huegeleisen]

Maybe for extra information: I am an 18 year old student. I usually play 2 times per week soccer and do home workouts besides that. But right now I need to do physiotherapy after being recovered from a shoulder dislocation. Because of school I have to get up at 6:30 am.

How can I find out, how much sleep I need?

Looking forward for your replies!

 

[Leo Gura]

Time yourself on a weekend, how long till you wake up naturally and well-rested?

Your body knows exactly how much rest it needs. Just actually listen to it without trying to manipulate it to meet some agenda.

Edited March 27, 2023 by Leo Gura

[LukeZ]

It would also be good to figure out your chronotype for optimal sleep.

[Karmadhi]

11 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

Your body knows exactly how much rest it needs

I have heard that your body can adjust depending on how much you sleep. Like it is flexible not fixed on a specific amount. Normally I need around 8.5-9 hours to feel well rested but last summer for around 3  weeks I went through a very busy period and I was sleeping around 5 hours a night. After 10 days or so I started to feel well rested with 7 hours of sleep when normally 7 hours is not enough for me.  What are your thoughts on this?

 

Edited March 28, 2023 by Karmadhi

[Huegeleisen]

22 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

Time yourself on a weekend, how long till you wake up naturally and well-rested?

Your body knows exactly how much rest it needs. Just actually listen to it without trying to manipulate it to meet some agenda.

Thanks! Luckily my holidays start next week so I can try it out. I guess I should go to sleep at the same time when I try this out or am I wrong?

17 hours ago, LukeZ said:

It would also be good to figure out your chronotype for optimal sleep.

I guess I am a night owl based on my experiences with going to bed early cause of school. It kind of sucks, but I guess I have to somehow use that for my advantage.

[M A J I]

Depends on how fast you regenerate, depends on lifestyle, depends on diet, depends on stress, environmental, energetic, many things, its always changing. You don't ask others these questions, no one can tell you but your own body, go within, pay attention.

[The0Self]

Just listen to your body. For humans aged 18+, the optimal range for an individual is narrow, but for the population at large it is very broad: 4-9 hours per day -- specifically, 0.0% of people can get away with less than 4, and (barring a few extremely rare conditions and situations) ~0% of people need more than 9. The vast majority of people will be healthiest with 7.5h, however with meditation and stress management, that could be 6h (on meditation retreat it can often be 4-6h).

However, if one is progressing on lifting heavy weights and attempting to stimulate muscle growth at a near-maximal rate, optimal sleep is always going to be 8-9 hours per day, as the maximum muscle growth rate (2lb/mo as a beginner; 0.5lb per month when very strong; maximum is only possible with some level of fat gain and of course a sufficient calorie excess, specifically +200-400cals/day) is ONLY feasible with 8+ hours. You can still gain muscle on less, it just won't be maximal on any less than 8h per day. I had to find this out the hard way. I comfortably got my sleep down from 7.5h to 6h, surely associated with my practice of meditation, but it turns out that if you're trying to gain strength (muscle) at the fastest rate possible, 8h is required, and 9h seems to be a bit better than that even.

The reason nobody can get away with <4 is because you don't start your first cycle of stage 4 (deep) sleep until about T+3.75h, which lasts for about 20 minutes (i.e. from around T+3:45-4:05), so getting significantly less than about 4 hours means skipping that essential phase of sleep entirely, so it's like starving yourself of an essential nutrient, and it would quickly result in brain-accumulation of waste products, health problems, and eventually death.