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[?] Polyphasic sleep - Page 3

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Biochemist
Profile Blog Joined February 2009
United States1008 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-03-23 13:50:28
March 23 2009 13:48 GMT
#41
The whole polyphasic thing is absolutely retarded. You actually aren't really getting much REM sleep at all even once your body adjusts to it. When I did combat training with the Marines we only had 3 hours of sleep a night max for a month. The first few weeks sucked, but then we got used to it and it wasn't a big deal. Does that mean that three hours of sleep a night is fine and healthy? Of course not!

Go ahead and make the switch if you want to suck a few years off your life. Research has been done, and nothing supports this nonsense.
nataziel
Profile Blog Joined October 2008
Australia1455 Posts
March 23 2009 13:54 GMT
#42
Wow, this topic has had me reading stuff for like four hours. Polyphasic sleep looks really interesting, but I don't think I could be out of sync with the rest of the world, it would just be so inconvenient, and my schedule isn't very flexible, since I'm at university.
u gotta sk8
DBunny
Profile Joined October 2007
Canada192 Posts
March 23 2009 13:58 GMT
#43
I experimented with this awhile ago, I slept for 1.5 hours x 3 times a day - which is almost how much I would get regularly (5-6 hours) but the advantage of this is that you are able to get work done day and night. I still do this from time to time when I really need to get something done (studying for exams and giant projects), but I can only maintain it for a few days max before I start to accumulate a sleep debt. It's also not very practical for people who have to follow a set schedule because of work/school (most people) since it's not convenient to sleep on the job or in class. In the end it just comes down to the person, some people can function off less sleep in general and I'm sure some people could keep it up their whole life and be more productive because of it.
doktorLucifer
Profile Blog Joined November 2008
United States855 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-03-23 15:16:59
March 23 2009 15:12 GMT
#44
On March 23 2009 16:19 Equaoh wrote:
I think what you're describing is REM debt, mostly. After a while of not getting enough REM sleep your brain 'prioritizes' your sleep to try to offset the deficiency - leading to faster initiation of REM and a longer duration. The problem is you still have a lot of REM debt building up and you're not working nearly enough of it off (note that REM periods lengthen the longer you sleep in one sitting).

Also, and more importantly, the napping leads to a real lack of stage 4 or slow-wave sleep which can be problematic - your body takes advantage of this 'metabolic downtime' for anabolic processes like secreting GH. An extended period of time without slow wave sleep can lead to fybromyalgia among other health problems.

I'm not a sleep specialist but I'd stick to a regular sleep schedule.


Then I guess polyphasic sleep is not a good option for those trying to gain weight. I'm try to get out of this gangly, frail 122 pound nerd body (12 of those pounds recently gained.)

Edit: I'm currently a university student, and I'd consider using this pattern too, since I'm already so consistently awake when others aren't. I'd be able to stay focused, and my class schedule (though 17 units) allows for this. I try to get 6-8 hours of sleep daily because I need any anabolic process that kicks in during long periods of sleep to happen. -.-v
bladebrood
Profile Blog Joined April 2008
189 Posts
March 23 2009 15:50 GMT
#45
good old polyphasic sleep... I've actually done this myself a few times, mostly a summer two years ago where i did it for about 3months.

It was great and I would definitely do it again if it wasn't for the one major flaw; I had to eat SO MUCH MORE than usual, every 4hours i would basically need a whole meal. (too expensive). If I had loads of money I would do it again and never stop.

I always felt a load more awake (except the first few days when i felt so bad I couldnt think at all). Music sounded AMAZING, every one of my senses was just so insanely good.. I could see details loads more and i felt faster.

I played songs so well in guitar hero that i was failing so hard before (and after...)

If you can afford it and don't need to be awake for more than ~3hours and 45minutes then give it a go for sure. It's amazing, and each day feels like a week.

Oh yea, and the dreams.. wow... the dreams. Best dreams of my life every time i went to sleep.

I miss polyphasic T_T, but I can't afford all the food and i need to work for long periods of time now anyways.
Equaoh
Profile Joined October 2008
Canada427 Posts
March 23 2009 16:53 GMT
#46
I can't seem to find the actual study but there were some experiments done involving regulating hormone levels in the brain (melatonin and orexin, i think?) such that patients didn't need to sleep at all and suffered no cognitive deficits.
They did need to eat a lot more, though.
Rainbow
Profile Blog Joined December 2008
United States249 Posts
March 23 2009 22:47 GMT
#47
Wait, could someone explain in a simple, 14 year old kid way, this to me so I can try? Or is it not safe until I'm at least 20 or w.e?
Matoo-
Profile Blog Joined June 2007
Canada1397 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-03-23 23:13:19
March 23 2009 23:03 GMT
#48
On March 23 2009 16:16 Polyphasic wrote:
sleep watches monitor your sleep cycle while you are sleeping by recording things like pulse, blood pressure, breathing, etc etc. they wake you up only when you are at the end of REM, which is the best time to wake up. they go for like, 70$, but for students like me who always oversleep or undersleep so i'm always tired, they save my life.

Didn't know that existed. Sounds fucking awesome.

Edit: Some models/brands to recommend?
ySoLaMe
Profile Joined June 2008
United States51 Posts
March 23 2009 23:36 GMT
#49
Im not sure how exactly your body would fast forward to REM sleep over time. I feel like thats a pattern/system that your body wouldnt be able to alter.

Polyphasic sleep seems very impractical. You can't expect an employer to allow two or three half hour naps during your 9 to 5 schedule. Also, I think the world would use a lot more of its resources if the world ran on a polyphasic schedule - imagine all of the newly demanded work hours and gross amounts of food consumed.

I'm for monophasic sleep.
Racenilatr
Profile Blog Joined August 2008
United States2756 Posts
March 23 2009 23:57 GMT
#50
Polyphasic sleep is decent if you have control of your schedule but for the most part society is centered upon monophasic sleep
SmoKing2012
Profile Blog Joined January 2007
United States385 Posts
March 24 2009 00:03 GMT
#51
Anyone else read the title as 'Polyphasic sheep?'
How do you like them apples, ho-bag? And how do you like those very same apples, Eggars!
Teejing
Profile Joined January 2009
Germany1360 Posts
March 24 2009 16:00 GMT
#52
i agree that too much sleep combined with the lack of sports is bad, since you get used to being sleepy, but my common sense tells me that regular of 7-8h is better for your body, because:

1) The body shutting down is important for regeneration

2) The body reacts to the day/night cyclus, making it natural to be awake at sunshine and sleepy at night. Interrupting this could give your body´s natural balance some problems

3) I guess man did always sleep at night for millions of years making it look to me like the most effective way in the long run.

Well, i got a question: Are there any animals who do take their sleep in several naps?
D10
Profile Blog Joined December 2007
Brazil3409 Posts
March 24 2009 16:09 GMT
#53
Its sounds like it is possible, but it would require some natural selection, atm most alive humans are people completely adapted to a full cicle of sleep, and altho technology is changing that, 20 min naps every 4 hour require a lot of mastery to really work and not fuck you up.

So unless you are a fucking marine in a war, I say screw this, gimme my long sleep and my sweet dreams.

Nice topic tho
" We are not humans having spiritual experiences. - We are spirits having human experiences." - Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
TheosEx
Profile Blog Joined July 2006
United States894 Posts
March 24 2009 16:15 GMT
#54
I read some time back that this was not healthy at all. Over the course of one year, participants (who could even last that long in itself was amazing), experienced deteriorating health conditions. Many had increased blood pressure, less bone density, etc.

I think it's also extremely hard to dream with 20 minutes of sleep. Psychologists are starting to think that dreams help you re-organize everything in your brain. So if you don't dream, you start to become incoherent.

I may be wrong about some specifics, but it's been about 2 years or so since I've taken any psychology classes.
Manit0u
Profile Blog Joined August 2004
Poland17476 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-03-24 16:30:07
March 24 2009 16:25 GMT
#55
On March 23 2009 09:05 il0seonpurpose wrote:
My brother tried this and I helped him by waking him up every 20 minutes but he couldn't wake up


Not surprised here. Whenever I feel tired and just want to 'lay down for a minute or two' and ask my wife/set the alarm to wake me up in 30min, I end up sleeping for 12-16hrs straight

Besides that I need to change my sleep pattern a lot (just need to change my job to a normal one) since what it is now is exactly what CharlieMurphy wrote on p1 of this thread...

Also, to stay on topic, some more reasons why people don't do polyphasic (apart from work/study and stuff):
1. Alcohol (everyone likes to parteeeeeey )
2. Depression (due to loneliness at night and having to go through the night longer, why do you think like everyone in Iceland is perpetually depressed?)
3. Frustration (if you have no-one to go out with/talk to, no pizza delivery etc. at crazy hours during normal weekdays)
4. Boredom (you now have extra 6hrs to fill with some kind of mostly abnormal activities, no fun here)

On March 24 2009 00:50 bladebrood wrote:
It was great and I would definitely do it again if it wasn't for the one major flaw; I had to eat SO MUCH MORE than usual, every 4hours i would basically need a whole meal. (too expensive). If I had loads of money I would do it again and never stop.


That's because your body is substituting calories for sleep. That's how people working on fishing boats etc. go through 80hrs of hard work with maybe 2hrs of sleep.
Eat as much as you can as often as you can - you can stay awake for crazy amounts of time.
Time is precious. Waste it wisely.
expostfacto
Profile Joined December 2002
United States365 Posts
March 24 2009 16:27 GMT
#56
I did polyphasic sleep for about nine months. I did an "everyman" pattern at first, 3 hours "core" sleep then 3x20 naps during the day. Later I moved to 4.5 core and 2x20.

I learned two things. One is that you have more crap interrupting you during the day than you think. (Hence my move to 2 naps. I just couldn't get 3 in consistently.) The other is that your body may have a natural sleeping time when sleeping is just more effective. Mine was about 9 PM to midnight -- I probably could have gone 3h + 2x20 on that. But, that was time that my wife did not want me sleeping. So it comes back to the schedule again.

I went back to monophasic when I started interviewing for a new job. I didn't think the companies would go for waiting for my nap, and I didn't want my brain to be fried from missing them either.

I'd like to do it again when my work schedule allows it again. The extra time is great, even if you are sleeping a lot more than the minimum 2h some people have gotten to. (I don't have a month to spend wasted trying to acclimatize to that. "everyman" is much gentler.)
http://www.carnageblender.com -- over 100 million battles served
BottleAbuser
Profile Blog Joined December 2007
Korea (South)1888 Posts
March 24 2009 17:22 GMT
#57
I did this for a bit more than 5 weeks a few years ago. It worked fine, I felt alert, but then I crashed for about 3 days straight when I stopped. Also, did not save extraordinary amounts of time for me in my case because maybe half an hour is spent before finding a party in Lineage II.
Compilers are like boyfriends, you miss a period and they go crazy on you.
eshlow
Profile Joined June 2008
United States5210 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-03-24 17:36:34
March 24 2009 17:34 GMT
#58
On March 23 2009 12:08 JeeJee wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 23 2009 11:26 eshlow wrote:
Trust me, it does NOT work well.

It's not worth wasting your time over (especially if you're in school or have shift work jobs).


well for statements like these, it's usually common sense to put in some sort of self-qualification so that we may have a reason for trusting you. have you tried it? or have you extensively studied it? as of now your post holds little more value than me posting 'Trust me, it DOES work well.'


I have fairly "extensive" experience with biphasic and some everyman through college. Throws everything out of whack as I said especially if you're in school. I strongly recommend against anything other than monophasic.

Physiologically, sleep is a recharge time for your body... strongly anabolic. That's when a lot of hormones like growth hormone get released which are important for systemic repair. Decreasing sleep decreases the time spent (GH for example peaks in short wave sleep) and staying away tends to have elevated levels of cortisol (stress hormone). Decreased overall GH secretion and increased cortisol is related to senescence (aging). It "sounds" cool to get more time in the day, but it's just more stress on your body and makes it age "faster" biologically.
Overcoming Gravity: A Systematic Approach to Gymnastics and Bodyweight Strength
cgrinker
Profile Blog Joined December 2007
United States3824 Posts
March 24 2009 17:58 GMT
#59
There was a study that was done where they put people in complete darkness for the night (like if they lived as cavemen) and noticed that they developed two sleep cycles. So maybe there is more to it than some people think.
Deleted User 3420
Profile Blog Joined May 2003
24492 Posts
March 24 2009 18:05 GMT
#60
Anyone who is still in the developmental phases of life (early twenties or younger) shouldn't even attempt it.


I have only heard of it working long-term for people who took amphetamines, anyways. Polyphasic sleep is not natural. It just takes advantage of the brain's adaptability.



I think that 4-6 hours sleep/night, and a 1hour or so powernap during the day would be much better cycle.
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