So which is better: 8 hours of shallow, restless sleep? Or 4 hours of sound, deep sleep? Feel free to share your experiences!

Some people need more sleep, some need less...Personally, I don't remember ever getting more then 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep at night. I do take regular power naps during the day and sometimes sleep more on the weekends and off days. The least amount of sleep I ever had was about 2-3 hours and that happened few times in my life.

I like to think of it as sleeping fast or slowly. I've sailed deep water where life was lived on "watches". Rarely did we get more that 6 hours to sleep. Often it was more like four. But after a few days you learn to sleep really fast; zoning out as soon as your head hits the pillow and being ready to go when waked.

That said, getting less sleep on a regular basis take its toll on both the decision making process and overall health.

Ben

10 to 12 hours of deep sleep. So Good.

Every body is different. Dr. George Sheehan...."We are each an experiment of one."

MANY years ago I'd have plenty of 6(+) hours of sound sleep. As I got older the quantity declined and quality became more varied. Now my sleep usually comes in 1.5 hour increments.

An excellent description of my experience serving in the Navy, and, I don't think I ever had two hours of uninterrupted sleep as CO if the ship were underway. That said, now I try to get a minimum of six hours at night, usually getting up before a full eight...my sleep remains a bit broken, but I chalk that to habit (and apnea). I often look for a spot to take a 30-40 minute nap in the afternoon (that a habit I formed when I was getting so little consistent sleep aboard ship).

Great replies, love to hear of other's experiences.

I am an early bird. My wife is a night owl. I'm happy to be in bed by 9pm sharp, but the alarm goes off at 3:30am. This morning (Saturday) I had no alarm, but still woke up around 3:30. Slept another two hours (!) and was off to run errands before the family was up.

I would love to catch a nap in the late afternoon... but not sure how that would affect my night's sleep.

You're the opposite of us. I'm the night owl and my wife is the early bird. I usually sleep between 11pm and 1am (but most often between 11:30pm and midnight) and wake up at 6am during work days. I find that 6/6.5 hours serves me well. More than that and I dream too much and feel more tired in the morning.

We like 9 hours uninterrupted, plus another hour after lunch. For some reason, I fall asleep for our nap much faster than I do at night. I don't think the nap makes any difference to that, but I sure have a more productive afternoon with it.

Some people can sleep anywhere, anytime.

I prefer not to be disturbed between midnight and 8am, or later in the dead of winter.

I only wish!!

It'll get better as you grow up.

I can, physically, sleep that much and more. But who has the time? Work, university, cycling ... all get in the way of all the sleep I'd like to get.

What I'm saying. Work? University? Eh? I've only had cycling get in the way of sleep during brevets.

I used to try get to bed at 10:30pm and wakeup 6am if drive to work or sleep 10 and get up 5:40am if commute. My wife on the other hand gets to bed 12 or 1 and claims to get more sleep, so I tried and went to bed 11:30am and woke up 6am,I was surprised by the quality of sleep and I felt much better rested than going to bed earlier. Now I shoot for 7.5 to 8 hrs but I find my body already awake right at 7hr mark. Hard to take a nap

I run on about 5-6 hours of sleep depending on when we can get the kids to bed (1 and 3 year old). Normally in bed by 9pm, up at 3am to work out, then off to work at 5am. I find that 5-6 hours of good deep sleep are better for me than 9 hours of restless sleep. Or it might be the working out that makes me feel awake, who knows.

So, does anyone think it is possible to "train" yourself to stay up later, sleep better and still get an early start?? I follow ultrarunning some, and there is a runner named Dean Karnanzas that conditioned himself to sleep only 4 hours/night and still put in monster miles every week!!

Just asking.

Got 2.5 hours last night and put 102 miles today. No training involved just the way things have been for me for some time. I would think that one could condition one's self but it most likely would require a good amount of time experimenting to find the golden ring.