# Is 5 hours sleep enough for muscle growth?



## poker genius (Feb 10, 2016)

I wake up at 3.30am to train at 4am before work 3 days a week.

I usually go to sleep about 10 pm, bit unfair on the mrs if I go to sleep any earlier as we would be passing ships in the night!

Do you think this would effect my muscle growth?


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## 2004mark (Oct 26, 2013)

Not ideal if it's on a consistent basis I wouldn't imagine, but if it can't be avoided then what can you do.

For me it's more the sleep I get after training that I think is most important. Have a proper good sesh and I feel like I sleep extra deep.


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## dtlv (Jul 24, 2009)

I don't know if there's any research on sleep deficit that shows inhibited muscle growth, but I do know that research shows that limited sleep increases 24 hr cortisol levels fairly significantly, and since elevated cortisol is catabolic it may well be the case that too little sleep too often doesn't allow you to hold on to as much muscle.

From a personal perspective I just know that if I have less then 6-7hrs sleep I do not train as well, and the difference in performance is pretty big. Ideally I'd sleep 8 - 9 hours.


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## dtlv (Jul 24, 2009)

BTW, moved thread out of Nutrition section.


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## UlsterRugby (Nov 16, 2014)

Its 3 nights out of 7 just tell the missus your turning in early. I doubt missing that hour of crap tv together will make that much of a difference


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## Antony007 (Feb 18, 2016)

You need to sleep at least 8 hours if you want your muscles to grow. I watch Rich Piana youtube and he always says we need to sleep at least 8 hours for muscles growth


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## gymfreak2010 (Jan 6, 2016)

Antony007 said:


> You need to sleep at least 8 hours if you want your muscles to grow. I watch Rich Piana youtube and he always says we need to sleep at least 8 hours for muscles growth


 rich piana ? the same guy who also said blast your arms before bed & dream about growth lol


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## Colin (Sep 28, 2015)

Antony007 said:


> *You need to sleep at least 8 hours if you want your muscles to grow.* I watch Rich Piana youtube and he always says we need to sleep at least 8 hours for muscles growth


 Where is your evidence? Nonsense.

Plenty on here don't get 8 hours sleep including myself and we grow.


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## Ares (Dec 3, 2015)

Antony007 said:


> You need to sleep at least 8 hours if you want your muscles to grow. I watch Rich Piana youtube and he always says we need to sleep at least 8 hours for muscles growth


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## 2o16 (Dec 19, 2015)

Antony007 said:


> You need to sleep at least 8 hours if you want your muscles to grow. I watch Rich Piana youtube and he always says we need to sleep at least 8 hours for muscles growth


 He also told people to only eat real food, then made a supplement called " real food". Take what you want from that.


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## UlsterRugby (Nov 16, 2014)

Antony007 said:


> You need to sleep at least 8 hours if you want your muscles to grow. I watch Rich Piana youtube and he always says we need to sleep at least 8 hours for muscles growth


 rich peanut is a dweeb dont believe any of his marketing crap.


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## poker genius (Feb 10, 2016)

UlsterRugby said:


> Its 3 nights out of 7 just tell the missus your turning in early. I doubt missing that hour of crap tv together will make that much of a difference


 Shame is I only see her 4 times a week due to her work commitments (or other man as my mates say) haha


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## UlsterRugby (Nov 16, 2014)

poker genius said:


> Shame is I only see her 4 times a week due to her work commitments (or other man as my mates say) haha


 then the days you dont see he make up for the sleep. Im sure you will be fine.


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## ellisrimmer (Sep 9, 2012)

Colin said:


> Where is your evidence? Nonsense.
> 
> Plenty on here don't get 8 hours sleep including myself and we grow.


 some people will be successful despite what they do

it's pretty clear for optimum muscle growth sleeping is important. Otherwise we wouldn't need to sleep.


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## Archaic (Mar 8, 2010)

I get 6.5hrs sleep and wake up feeling spot on. If I get more than 7hr, I feel like total sh1t.

5hr sleep sounds a bit grim tho! I train each body group 1x every 8 days due to the shifts I work, it's not ideal, but is a practical way of living/lifting long-term.


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## Sustanation (Jan 7, 2014)

poker genius said:


> I wake up at 3.30am to train at 4am before work 3 days a week.
> 
> I usually go to sleep about 10 pm, bit unfair on the mrs if I go to sleep any earlier as we would be passing ships in the night!
> 
> Do you think this would effect my muscle growth?


 Ideally you need 7 and that's just for your body to recover its CNS and carry out process's etc

When on a proper bodybuilding program I sleep 9 hours on average.


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## 19072 (Aug 11, 2010)

I usually go to bed about 10 asleep for 11 and up at 5:30 - I aim to get at least 6-7hrs sleep in a night. Also depends if the baby wakes us up so could end up being broken sleep.


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## Mingster (Mar 25, 2011)

I have sleep apnoea and rarely get any quality sleep.


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## big (Sep 14, 2004)

Just sleep faster


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## Mogadishu (Aug 29, 2014)

Mingster said:


> I have sleep apnoea and rarely get any quality sleep.


 Welcome to the club sir. Using mask or oral appliance ?

For the topic everyone have different amount of hours, some have 5-6 and some need 8-10.


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## Mingster (Mar 25, 2011)

Mogadishu said:


> Welcome to the club sir. Using mask or oral appliance ?
> 
> For the topic everyone have different amount of hours, some have 5-6 and some need 8-10.


 I have a mask. I don't wear it as often as I should tbh.


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## Kill Kcal (May 11, 2013)

poker genius said:


> Shame is I only see her 4 times a week due to her work commitments (or other man as my mates say) haha


 Time for a new bird then pal!


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## Full Power (Feb 2, 2016)

The whole sleep thing is relative. 8hrs has always been said to be optimum but if you spend 10 hours a day laying tarmac or something equally as exhausting and then train for an hour and a half, you're probably going to need a little more rest than someone that works part time in a coffee shop and trains.

That being said, it might work out that the guy laying tarmac sleeps like a baby and feels adequately rested on just 5 good hrs a night whereas the barista doesn't feel refreshed unless they get 9hrs.

I feel great on 8.5hrs a night but rarely get it, even going on 7hrs for just a few days shows on me and impacts my training - unfortunately life gets in the way though so it's often just a case of making do with what you can manage.


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## 3752 (Jan 7, 2005)

there is no one figure that is the sweet spot for everyone, what also needs to be considered you might go to sleep at 11.00pm and wake at 7.00am so 8hrs right? wrong......most if not all do not sleep the whole 8hrs and even for those that do not wake they will transition between light and REM sleep.

if i get 7hrs in bed on average i get five and half to six hours actual sleep with a quarter of that being REM sleep.......

there is some studies ut there to show how lack of sleep will effect fat loss its a logical link to believe that the same could be applied to muscle growth......

the rule of thumb should be if you are consistently waking tired then you are probably not being optimal in your goals...


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## Fluke82 (Sep 10, 2015)

I sleep 5-6 and seem to be doing fine.

i spose its when it starts negatively effecting your actual training, as you're tired etc, it becomes a problem


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## MikeH (Mar 24, 2016)

From my personal experience, some lack of sleep here and there din't affect me, both in muscle gains and fat loss.

Building up sleep deprivation is what messed me up, long periods sleeping short and elevated stress...I even lost some gains

while on-cycle .

I try to get 7/8 hours and feel great, but working in shifts I sometimes get 4/5, I just make up for it on my day' s off and don' t make a big deal about it :thumbup1:


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