Training Twice A Week Due to Chronic Lack of Sleep

[Bradley Gish]

I’m not that old( 33) but I only average 6-7 hours per night. I haven’t sleep >8hrs in probably a decade or so. My progress seems to be pretty good in spite of this. In his book “Defying Gravity “
Bill Starr writes that the optimal amount of sleep varies from individual to individual. Some athletes may need 9-10 hours per night to function 100% while others can get by with only 6 hrs. I can honestly say that I don’t recall ever missing a PR due to a bad nights sleep.

[Brent Carter]

I've certainly seen people miss PR's from not getting enough sleep. But what are you going to do? Not train?

[Bradley Gish]

I will clarify that I do prioritize my sleep. Although I regularly only get a little over 6 hours or so, I depend on that 6 hours. Occasionally I’ll have a shitty nights sleep( 5 hrs or less), but typically I’ll get right back on track the following night. If one is getting less than 5 hrs consecutive nights, I could foresee some potential problems. But with that said, circumstances do not always have to be perfect in order to make progress. If your nutrition is still on track, then there is still a possibility that everything will still proceed as planned. Suboptimal training conditions will generally yield suboptimal results, but obviously this isn’t exactly written in stone.

[Brent Carter]

That is fairly common for a lot of people. Is what it is. Still have to train and pay your taxes.

[jfallon9]

I would say that yes, those 18 hours are completely out of my control. Trust me, I don’t waste much time. Or any at all. Training is a #1 priority for me, because it’s really the only thing that keeps me sane. I just wish I could get more sleep, but I’ll get by. Generally, I get up early to train (I’m up at 5 and working out in my school’s weight room by 6:30).

[Brent Carter]

I'm amazed that this thread is still going...

[jfallon9]

Sleep is an important thing, lol. Thanks for all your guys’ advice/input.