What is the ideal amount of sleep? I try to get 7 hours in, but I'm not sure that it is enough.

I'm no expert, but I always hear that 8 hours a sleep is "normal" or "average"
But that implies there is a range, right?
My body tends to function nicely on 9 hours of sleep consistently, though I could get by on much less if I had to for some reason!
Do you feel well-rested after 7 hours of sleep? Is there a reason for this number?


Also, I heard somewhere that you can "teach" your body to need less sleep. Does anyone know if that is true?? I would love to be well-rested after 7!!

Everyone is different. There are some people who function perfectly well on 5 or 6 hours and some people who need 10 to be completely rested.

I personally need 7-8 hours a night of solid, restful sleep to be at my best, but I can function well on 4-5 hours for a really long period of time if I have to. Eventually though, it catches up to me and I have to crash for a weekend and regenerate.

I'm the same way. I could function on 4-5, but be dead after a few days of doing that.

I said 7 hours of sleep because usually, I get to bed around 11 or 12 and wake up between 6 and 7. But now that I've started working out, I try to get to sleep around 9ish and get up at a little after 5 so I can hit the gym by 5:45.

It's only been a day of waking up this early, so my body is probably not used to it. That and I'm still planning my eating plan to make the most of my energy.

I will say this ... when I first started working out I was tired ALL THE TIME. I mean I was flat out exhausted for at least the first couple of weeks.

Then suddenly I found that I wasn't tired at all and that I would wake up naturally after about 7-ish hours of sleep - when before I'd always needed an alarm clock to get up. I also discovered that I sleep much better when I'm working out regularly.

That is good to know. I hope things turn around for me as I love my sleep!

i have to do 7 hours minimum, however i am worse when i oversleep than undersleep. You can correct undersleeping by taking a small nap, but you can't reverse oversleeping

Hi I personally think that it's all depends as different people have difference amount of energy. I think it's all depends on what things that you eat that gives you energy and how much energy that you used through out the day.

I only sleep roughly 5 hours per day and working an average 60 hours per week. And my work is actually as a waiter and that requires long hour standing.

I also noticed that if I over sleep(7 hours or more for me), I will actually feel more tired then not sleeping at all.

Please correct me if i'm wrong as it's my personal opinion. Thanks.

First off, the little LED will not stop this process from occurring or disrupt your circadian rhythm in general. That is just ridiculous.

Although we should ensure our bed time area is mostly (reasonably) absent of light, the level you are saying to take it is quite extreme.

This again is different for everyone, it really depends if yourself will get distracted a source of light. Like i sleep around 8 hrs usually with my door open with the hall light shining through. As long as you can relax without constantly being interrupted by ambient surroundings.

Ya thats right we must have taken 8 hour sleep.Otherwise we are not so well.

Try not to stay up late. Sleeping at 11pm will be a good timing.

A good timing for what?

What if I work a night shift and don't get home until 9 p.m.?
What if I work an early morning shift and get up at 4:30 a.m.?

Using any time as an absolute is silly unless you know something about the life and lifestyle of the person you're replying to.