Posted by Chris on September 24, 2009
Day 30. I made it all the way through with only 3 or 4 really bad over sleeps. Today I got woke up at 2:35 by my backup alarm clock. I had my regular alarm (iphone) in my hand and didn't even know it. I thought that was a pretty funny start into day 30.
Now I know 30 days isn't enough to really judge polyphasic sleep but i will give my 30 day point of view analysis here. Note that these are pertaining to my self and others may have different results.
Monophasic: On average people sleep anywhere from 6 - 10 hours on a normal monophasic sleep schedule. In my case id say i used to sleep 8 hours on average. But just because its monophasic and normal doesn't mean its perfect. I had plenty of days where i woke up tired after 8 hours of sleep.
Theoretical average productive hours = 16
Actual average productive hours =14.5
Basically i think sleeping in on weekends and sometimes 9 - 10 hour nights during weekdays brings monophasics # down to 14.5 hours for me.
Biphasic:(siesta)
Just before i started the polyphasic experiment i tried the Siesta sleep for about a week or so. It worked very well for me in that time frame, but of course i don't have any long term data. On average you sleep a 6 hour core and a 20 - 30 minute nap some time during the day. Very flexible and still good gains over a monophasic sleep schedule.
Theoretical average productive hours = 17.5
Actual average productive hours =17
I was very impressed with it for the short time i tried it.
Polyphasic:(everyman3)
I cant really say much about uberman or the other everymen because i have not tried them. I imagine everyman2 (4.5 core 2x 20min naps) may be pretty good. And I might try it some day, but for now ill get into everyman3. On everyman3 you take a 3 hour core nap and then 3 20 minute naps spaced evenly through out the day. This should give a good hourly gain while still giving some flexibility in napping.
Theoretical average productive hours = 20
Actual average productive hours =17.5
Yes, at this point in time im only getting about 17.5 hours worth of actual productive time. Here is the reason why. Tiredness: I fall asleep during my naps and dream like I'm asleep for days. I take all 3 of my naps and my core but I'm still tired when i wake up at 2 am. On average when i haven't oversleep within the past 2 days. I will be tired for at least 1 hour after waking up and at least 30 mins before the first nap.
So there is 1.5 hours right there. Then there is the matter of accounting for falling asleep time during the naps and core. I give each nap 5 mins and the core 10. that ads up to 25 mins. And finally i get tired before each nap and start to loose focus so that's another 10 mins of tired time per nap(noon,5pm and core) adding up to 30 minutes. When its all set and done I spend 2 hours per day tired and unable to focus and 25 minutes trying to fall asleep.
Overall its still a huge gain over Monophasic sleep but it is unclear if its much of an improvement over the siesta sleep(0.5 hours gained vs only taking 1 nap). I will continue with everyman3 for another 15 - 30 days to see if i adapt better and reduce that tired time. If there is no improvement i will probably try the everyman2.
Any experienced polyphasic sleeper input would be appreciated.
Posted by Chris on September 2, 2009
Looks like day 8 is one of the better days. I'm not nearly as tired as I am usually in the mornings. I would describe it like getting up 1 hour earlier when you're used to 8 hours monophasic Sleep. Things seem very similar now every day. No huge set backs or improvements usually.
As I mentioned yesterday my new goal is to start testing my normal routines in this new sleep environment. I feel its stable enough to do that now. My body does feel more sluggish and heavy since I started the experiment. I haven't really felt energetic and ready to have a great workout yet.
But I'm trying to edge my way closer to that now. Timing is the question. Do I work out before the 5:30 pm nap? Or after? Or a completely different time? Yesterday, I did some rope jump just before my 5:30 nap. Didn't seem to have any negative effects on the nap.
11am: This is the second time that I've been tired at work. I'm very tired right now and I still have one hour left until the lunch nap. So far my results over these past 8 days have been all over the place. Its hard to find correlations when the results are so random.
Day8 recap: I did okay in the afternoon. But over all, it was one of the most widespread tired days I've had. I was rarely tired at work before today.
Posted by Chris on August 31, 2009
This morning is weird. My body feels good and not tired. But my eyes will not stop attempting to shut and go to sleep. I drifted into a split second of sleep a few times. And have to be careful now.
I'm so tired, I'm tempted to ad an extra nap. I have to say this morning was the hardest to stay awake. My eyes would not stop trying to go back to sleep. I must have drank a gallon of ice water and done 50 pull-ups over these past few hours to stay awake. But I've almost made it to the 7 am nap. Which will fix everything hopefully (don't want to be a zombie at work).
Made it to work: So after all this work to stay awake till 7am, I then overslept my 7am nap. I woke up at 7:25 and turned off my phone alarm but I was so drowsy I somehow fell right back asleep. I then woke up at 7:50 with my phone in my hand. I must have jinxed myself yesterday. An extra 25 minutes isn't the end of the world but I'm pretty mad about that.
I also have a theory on why I'm so tired today. Yesterday we where on the go a lot. So I took my Girlfriend out to Mexican food. Well I pigged out and had tons of chips and salsa and then a massively huge burrito.
It was delicious but it gave me heartburn and was entirely too much food. I felt very sluggish after eating it and I had to take some anti-acids before I went to sleep at 11. My theory is that over eating screwed up my core sleep a bit and I woke up very sleep deprived. I feel okay now and I figure I should be fine for the rest of the day. I will make sure to eat extra clean today to see if the results change tomorrow.
Posted by Chris on August 29, 2009
Red Eyes and trying to stay awake 2x per second. I just love the first hour after getting up. I will say my eyes don't hurt like yesterday. But I feel more tired. Its harder to focus yet again. So far I give today a Neutral rating compared to day 3. Now I just have to wait for the day when things start getting better!
6pm: Overall, today was Like the other days. I feel more tired and exhausted though.
Also I'm starting to have doubts as to the adaption. I'm wondering if my body will adapt to less sleep and be normal and productive, or if I will adapt to sleep deprivation and not know the difference.
Posted by Chris on August 28, 2009
Ahhh. Day 3. Dare I say it ? Yes, its worse then day 2 and 1 added together. My eyes hurt and I'm very tired. The first hour awake I had trouble focusing my eyes. Now I'm kind of in the zombie mode. I'm awake but not really. My body feels heavy and tired. It feels like I have to drag it around with sheer will power. Not sure what I'm going to do. Even physical activities sound like a lot of work with this tired body of mine. And my eyes still hurt.
Once again the 7am Nap saved the day! The 7am Nap together with my vitamins and a shower pretty much turns me from zombie to a normal awake business person. The rest of the day was similar to day 1 and 2. I feel normal until about 9pm at which time I then get very tired and have to fight till 11pm.
So I figure once it starts getting better I will incorporate regular heavy weight workouts and my regular supplements back in (check Diet for more info). I want to test how well my muscle recovery will work in this new sleep environment.