Biphasic sleeping update
by Scott Bird
November 15, 2006
2 comments
share it: digg | stumbleupon | del.icio.us
It’s now been a little over two months since I switched to biphasic sleeping, and I have no regrets at all. It’s great.
Before taking a quick look at a few observations I’ve made over the past month or so, a quick mention of another fitness enthusiast who’s taking the plunge : Eric from Ultimate Health & Conditioning. He’s recently completed the second day of the new routine, and from my own experience I’d say another 4-5 days should see him past the most difficult part - the all-important first week. Once your body adapts, it’s all good.
Incidentally, he’s taking the naps much earlier than I am (around 1-2pm rather than around 7:30pm); which may fit better into a typical 9-5 work schedule. At least if you can take a 1.5 hour lunch.
Now, a few things I’ve noticed lately :
The 90 minute sleep cycles are shortening
Despite the fact that the original article that drew me towards biphasic sleeping discussed the 90 minute sleep cycle, I’ve found that the cycle length is gradually shortening. I’m not quite sure how short it can become (and still contain all of the expected phases), but it currently stands at around 75-80 minutes. The experiences of Glen Rhodes suggest that it won’t move much below 75, but I’m keen to see just how individual that figure is.
The most notable side-benefit of this is that the alarm - which is always set for multiples of 90 - is there simply as a backup, and is rarely heard. As you’ll see in a minute though, it’s still set religiously.
Alarm still set
I still set the alarm on both naps and core sleep. The main reason for this is that the quality of sleep - although usually extremely high - varies. This may be due to local temperatures (it’s getting warm here, even at night), an excess of caffeine (I occasionally forget there’s a nap coming up, and grab a coffee in the late afternoon), or stress (either physical or mental). Having the alarm present actually increases the quality of sleep at these times. One less thing to worry about.
No more on vs in
During the trial period (the initial 30 days) I discovered that differentiating the naps from core sleep was best achieved by lying on top of the bed for naps, and climbing into it for the core sleep. I no longer mark this distinction, and climb into bed for each sleep period. My body seems to have adapted to the change well enough to wake in time on most occasions (and the alarm is always there in any case).
Oversleeping and a simple fix
I still oversleep on the nap occasionally (perhaps once per week). This isn’t usually more than an additional cycle or two, and the quickest way to get back on track seems to be :
- get up and do something for a few hours
- go to bed no later than 5am and sleep for a further two cycles
I arrived at this after experimenting with various combinations of nap/waking period/core sleep. Even a night of monophasic sleep. The result was that this combination worked, yet any other combination left me feeling incredibly tired for much of the following day. Eric, I’m curious to see how you handle a similar situation - especially as you have a much longer period between the nap and core sleep.
Tired by 7pm
Over the past few weeks I’ve noticed that I’m now tired by around 7pm; at least as tired as I would’ve been by midnight when on monophasic sleep. The nap, however, completely resets this, and following 75-80 minutes’ sleep I feel refreshed and ready to start the day. Again.
In case you’re wondering, this rejuvenated feeling only lasts 4 hours or so, which is one of the reasons I switched back to evening naps following the week-long trial of the afternoon variety.
Overall, it’s working well. No plans to change.
Ready to bend some steel? Grab a copy of the Diesel Crew's Bending eBook. Superb.
Comments
Receive new articles via RSS
Scott,
Great to see you following this so closely. I’m very inspired by your attention to detail, or perhaps I should say your attention to getting the details out there for others to enjoy!
I still haven’t found what my exact sleep cycle durations are, and I’m under the impression that not only are they shorter than 90 minutes, but that they vary in length depending on a number of factors, most notably which ‘number’ cycle it is (say if you have 4 in a night, they’d be 1 - 4, etc) and what kind of day I had stress & activity wise.
I find that I initially start getting tired around 1 PM and thus it made sense to me to get to sleep shortly thereafter so as not to ‘waste’ potential time where I’d be fully awake. After this afternoon nap (which sometimes happens at 2:30 as well) I am fully restored and do not get tired until my bedtime of 12 (adjusted because I probably wont fall asleep for 30 minutes).
This may change as my body adapts more and more to this schedule.
Keep it up!
- Eric
Posted by: Eric | November 19, 2006 9:24 PM
Hi Eric,
Thanks for stopping by. I’ve tried to leave a comment on your blog a couple of times in the past, but it seems to require login and there’s nowhere to register. There are a few things I want to ask about your own discoveries, but I’ll wait until you’ve been doing it for a few weeks (you’ll have well-and-truly adapted to it by then).
I’m intrigued by the idea of an afternoon nap, although my own attempts to shift it there from the evening failed dismally. I’ve no problems at all getting a full cycle when it’s getting dark, but I only seem to manage 15-20 minutes if I start during daylight hours. No doubt there are a lot of factors involved (I suspect heat and ambient noise play large roles).
By the way, it’s a great site you’ve got there. I’m still trekking through it :)
Posted by: Scott | November 19, 2006 10:02 PM