How many hours should sleep last. Optimal sleep duration per day

Hello, friends! Today we will find out how many hours an adult needs to sleep in order to maintain a youthful brain, health and active longevity.

Sleep is of great importance for a person, because during sleep, the restoration of all organs and systems occurs.

There are people who understand this, they take care of themselves, and do not allow them to systematically stay up at work after midnight. They are aware that sleep is a medicine for the body, without which there is no recovery.

And there are people who think that here I am a little tense up, finish the work, and then sleep off. But such a position gets away with it while young and healthy and there is a supply of strength in the body.

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How many hours does an adult need to sleep at night.

The need for an adult in the number of hours of night sleep varies depending on the energy supply, health, the opportunity to relax during the day, on the individual characteristics of a person, his biorhythms.

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Over the past 6 months, I have reduced the amount of sleep by 3 hours. At the same time, my sleep became deeper, better, and during the day I myself feel vigorous and full of energy. I’ll tell you what I had to go through to learn how to get enough sleep in fewer hours.

Like most people, I'm constantly short on time. Or rather, I'm wasting it

I have to get up early, go to bed late, the first half of the day goes to "buildup", and in the second I try to have time to do everything. As a result, the body does not get enough sleep, the head is buzzing, and in the evenings there is no strength and time to do something else.

So I decided to try to improve my sleep pattern. And at the same time, check how much minimum time is needed to get enough sleep and feel full of energy.

But in order to adjust your sleep pattern, it is important to understand how it works. It's simple

Our sleep includes 4 phases: drowsiness, drowsiness, deep sleep and light (REM) sleep.

Without going into details, each phase has its own important processes. But most of all, whether we get enough sleep or not is affected by the 3rd phase, in which the “maintenance” of the body is performed. Toxins are removed, resources are restored and the work of organs is checked.

That is, the longer the phase of deep sleep and the deeper it is, the better we sleep and recover.

2 things are important for good sleep

Low temperature. The higher the temperature (within reasonable limits) - the higher your activity. Therefore, during the day, the temperature must be high in order for the body to work well. And at night - low, so that the brain falls into the phase of deep sleep faster and stays in it longer.
Melatonin is the sleep hormone. It is released when our eyes are in darkness. And in bright light, it collapses. It is known that the peak of melatonin production occurs between 23:00 and 4:00, so it is important to sleep at this time.

Based on these rules, I made myself a routine.

1. Get up at the same time every day

If on weekdays I have to get up at 6:00, then on weekends I have to get up at 6:00. I set the alarm for every day so that it can not be turned off until you get up.

What for? The body must get used to getting up at the same time, and then going to bed at the same time. As a result, the brain begins to understand that there is a clear number of hours in which to recover.

2. Wake up in REM sleep

Waking a person is easier (and better) in REM sleep. Therefore, it is important to seize the moment. There are several ways to do this:

Use smart alarm apps. There are many such applications, I tried Pillow and SmartAlarm. They are quite accurate, but not always convenient in that the phone must be placed on the bed to record movement and sleep data.
Get up at the same time every day. If getting up at 6:20 is easier than 6:00, then you are in REM sleep at 6:20. You can simply try setting the alarm for different times on different days. In addition, if you get up every day at the same time, the brain will get used to it and will understand that by 6:00 you need to go into REM sleep.
Use a bracelet with a smart alarm function. Fitness bracelets are cheap, accurate, and wake up with gentle vibrations.

3. Sleep is disturbed by 3 things: humidity, temperature and light

Oftenhumidity in the apartment does not exceed 25% (this is not enough). Little humidity - processes slow down, sleep worsens. The optimum humidity level is 45%, and preferably 70%.

I bought the simplest humidifier that shows the humidity level and maintains the required value.

The optimal temperature for sleep is 16–20 ° C. It's pretty cool outside, so I just leave the window open at night. But in the future, you will have to buy a miniature air conditioner.

Less light - melatonin is produced faster. This means that we fall asleep faster and go into deep sleep. Even a window lantern or a store sign can disrupt your sleep cycle, so it's important to draw your curtains tightly.

I bought blackout curtains, which are made of thick material, block out light and make the room dark, like a cave. Sometimes I also wear a sleep mask.

3. Charging in the morning and physical activity during the day

Charging seriously increases body temperature, and hence performance.

Any physical exercises in the morning seem simply unrealistic. For a while I had to overpower myself, and then the body got used to it and I got involved. And here are important exercises that will make you sweat (abs, pull-ups, push-ups). All this in fast mode, about 10-15 minutes.

During the day, you also need to do some physical exercises. I've found that exercising less than 3 hours before bed makes it worse, so it's best to exercise during the day to raise your temperature and get your blood pumping.

4. You will have to give up some products

I hung up a piece of paper and marked on it every day that I went without coffee.

To sleep soundly, you should also not drink alcohol, nicotine, energy drinks and eat a lot of heavy, fatty foods. Even a simple bun, eaten before bedtime, disrupts the phase of deep sleep. And if you lean on energy, then you can completely violate the regime.

5. A few more little tricks

To drink a lot of water. Trite, but I often forgot about it. The body uses water during sleep, so it is important that you have enough of it.
Shower before bed. It is necessary to make the water about 23 ° C. The body cools down during sleep, and here we will do it in advance. If the water is too cold, then there will be an adrenaline rush, and we do not need this before going to bed.
Lots of light. To wake up quickly, you need more bright light, preferably sunlight. Therefore, as soon as I get up, I open the curtains or go out onto the balcony. In the light, melatonin is destroyed and you do not want to sleep at all.
Pillow. Previously, I did not pay much attention to this, but a good orthopedic pillow greatly improves the quality of sleep. Good for neck, back and blood flow. Ask a specialist to choose the right orthopedic pillow for you.

What were the results

Violating or observing each of these points, I observed a change in the phases of sleep, noted my well-being and performance the next day.

I compared my sleep performance before and after: the number of deep sleep phases increased by 2 times (from 1:43 to 4:02). Their frequency has also increased.

As a result, I achieved the goal and reduced my sleep time from 8–9 to 5–6 hours. At the same time, I get less tired, feel good and think quickly throughout the day.

Something important if you decide to repeat

I am not a doctor. Therefore, if you decide to seriously take care of your sleep, change the number of hours of sleep and your daily routine, then you should consult a doctor before starting.

He will tell you if it is safe for you specifically, and perhaps tell you the best way to solve the problem.

During daylight hours, a person works, then he needs rest. Sleep is a normal and vital period for every organism. What should it be? How much sleep does a person need to stay healthy? Is it important to go to bed and wake up at the same time?

Healthy sleep - what is it?

Let's start with an interesting fact that scientists have established: people who sleep the same number of hours at night live longer than those who have a change in sleep duration. The same experts drew attention to the fact that lack of sleep contributes to the development of diseases of the cardiovascular system. The body is subject to wear and tear, changes occur even at the level of biochemical reactions. But more on that later.

Let's see what advice experts give to ensure that our sleep becomes healthy.

Mode required. In order for sleep to bring maximum benefit and minimum harm, you need to go to bed and get up at the same time. When this regime is violated, our biological clock, biorhythms, gets off. It must be said that even on weekends, the mode of sleep and wakefulness should not change. Let's look at young children who don't care if it's a weekend or a weekday - they get up at about the same time. Let's take an example from them.
Sleep duration. Scientists answered the question of how much sleep you need: on average, the sleep period should be 7-8 hours. However, healthy sleep is uninterrupted sleep. It is more useful to sleep soundly for 6 hours than 8 hours with awakenings. Therefore, WHO data on this issue expand the boundaries of healthy sleep: an adult needs to sleep from 6 to 8 hours a day for normal life.
Do not lie in bed after waking up. There is a danger of falling asleep again. In addition, the body must get used to the fact that the day begins precisely after waking up at the set time. This will quickly become the norm for you.
Avoid exciting environments 1 hour before bedtime. Prepare your body for sleep by eliminating fussy activities, vigorous exercise at least 1 hour before bedtime.
Do relaxing treatments before bed. Make it a tradition, especially for those who have trouble falling asleep. Set up your “ceremony” before bed, in which you include what helps you relax. If a person performed active actions and, without calming down, went to bed, he can toss and turn in bed for a long time.
Try not to sleep during the day. This can lead to problems falling asleep in the evening.
Create a cozy and relaxing environment in your bedroom. It has no space for a TV and a computer. The mattress on the bed, the pillow should provide comfort and meet orthopedic standards. The bed should be associated with sleep, so it’s absolutely impossible to watch TV on it, consume, read. Be sure to ventilate the room before going to bed. Oxygen promotes fast falling asleep and healthy sleep.
A good dream indicates a good day. Spend daylight hours actively, do not neglect physical exercises and walks in the fresh air.
Avoid eating before bed. The last time it is recommended to eat no later than 2 hours before bedtime. And dinner should not be plentiful.
Smoking, drinking coffee, alcohol closer to the time of falling asleep interfere with healthy sleep. Give it up for the sake of your health.

What is the danger of lack of sleep

So, we found out that a person needs to sleep 6-8 hours a day. Now let's see what lack of sleep can lead to - a violation of the duration of sleep. If short sleep enters the system, we are faced with the dangerous phenomenon of chronic sleep deprivation. The habit of many today is a short nap during the week. On weekends, a person allegedly compensates for lack of sleep with sleep until 12-13 pm. Alas, this not only does not make up for what was lost, but also worsens the picture. Doctors gave this phenomenon the name "sleepy bulimia".

Consequences of lack of sleep:

decreased immunity;
decreased performance, concentration, memory;
cardiovascular diseases;
headache;
obesity (the body, as if defending itself, is trying to make up for the lack of energy with extra calories);
in men, due to lack of sleep, testosterone levels decrease by 30% (the belly begins to grow even in thin men, there is a risk of inflammation of the prostate gland);
increased levels of the stress hormone cortisol;
depression, insomnia may develop;

The main danger of lack of sleep is a violation of the normal biological rhythms of the body. During the day, each organ and system has its own periods of activity and rest. Chemical reactions occur inside the body, which also depend on biorhythms. Violation of sleep and wakefulness, the duration of rest leads to very serious internal disorders, the cause of which is desynchronosis. Unfortunately, the list of disorders that can result in desynchronosis is not limited to the above.

Until a certain time, a person can cope with lack of sleep by changing his lifestyle by an effort of will. However, over time, chronic lack of sleep can lead to sleep disturbances that he cannot cope with on his own.

What are sleep disorders?

Insomnia (insomnia) - it is difficult for a person to fall asleep and stay in a state of sleep.
Hypersomnia is unhealthy sleepiness.
Parasomnia - sleepwalking, night terrors and nightmares, bedwetting, epileptic seizures at night.
Situational (psychosomatic) insomnia is insomnia of an emotional nature that lasts less than 3 weeks.
Presomnic disorders - when a person has difficulty falling asleep.
Intrasomnia - frequent awakenings;
Postsomnicheskie disorders - disorders after awakening, fatigue, drowsiness.
Sleep apnea - slowing down and stopping breathing during sleep (the patient himself may not notice anything)
Bruxism is a spasm of chewing muscles during sleep - the jaws are compressed, a person grinds his teeth.

Sleep disturbances can lead to diseases of the cardiovascular and endocrine systems, obesity, decreased immunity, irritability and memory loss, muscle pain, convulsions, and tremors.

In case of sleep disorders, it is necessary to contact a neurologist, a psychotherapist.

Is long sleep helpful?

Well, if lack of sleep is so harmful, we think, then you need to sleep for a long time. Sleeping 10-15 hours a day is considered excessive. It turns out that lack of sleep and too much sleep are equally harmful for a person. With an overabundance of the sleep hormone, a person very quickly begins to overwork. It happens that such people say: the more I sleep, the more I want.

This is due to the fact that all the same biological rhythms of the body are upset. As a result, the level of hormones necessary for a healthy life changes. Such people feel lack of strength, laziness and apathy. As with lack of sleep, too much sleep reduces performance, all of which can lead to depression.

Often a person chooses sleep, consciously moving away from important matters, problems and traumatic situations. This further aggravates his condition and relations with loved ones, because these problems do not go anywhere, but only accumulate in a snowball.

Physically, excessive sleep can lead to an increase in migraine attacks, stagnation of blood in the vessels, increased blood pressure, edema, etc.

Conclusion

The norms of sleep time are conditional, because each person has his own time frame for the rest period. Someone needs 6 hours, and some need at least 8. However, we need to know the average indicators in order to build our regimen correctly.

It is also necessary to say that life sometimes puts us in situations in which a person is forced to sleep little. Usually such periods do not last long. After that, it is vital to get enough sleep to restore physical and emotional strength. In such cases, as well as in illness, long sleep is the remedy. However, most often a person himself changes his regimen, deliberately not getting enough sleep or oversleeping, harming his body.

Scientists have found that people who lead a healthy lifestyle and sleep the same number of hours live much longer than those whose sleep duration varies from day to day.

Experts say that "lack of sleep" and "oversleeping" are equally bad for health. Lack of sleep leads to the development of diseases of the heart system. Oversleeping leads to rapid fatigue, reduced performance.

Regime compliance. Only in that case, sleep will do more good than harm if you go to bed at the same time. The duration of sleep should also be the same. If the regime is violated, there are failures of biorhythms - the biological clock. On weekdays and holidays, the duration of sleep should be the same. Adults need to take an example from young children, because it doesn’t matter to them whether it’s a day off or a weekday - they go to bed and wake up at almost the same time.
Sleep duration. Healthy sleep should equal 8 hours: myth or reality? If sleep is continuous, it is enough for a person to sleep from 6 to 8 hours a day. If during sleep a person often wakes up, then these 8 hours will not be enough for him, he will feel tired and overwhelmed. In order to sleep well at night, during the day you need to remain calm and not overexcite your nervous system. Only in this case there will be a good and healthy sleep.
When you wake up, get out of bed immediately. After waking up, each of us wants to spend another 5 minutes half asleep. During this time, you can fall asleep again. You need to accustom your body to the fact that you need to get up at the same time. You get used to it very quickly, and it becomes the norm.
Only positive emotions are needed 1 hour before bedtime. The body needs to be prepared: you can not fuss and engage in active sports immediately before bedtime.
Relaxing treatments will improve the quality of sleep. For those who have difficulty falling asleep, tossing and turning in bed for a long time, it is recommended to take a shower or bath with soothing herbs, listen to soothing music or take a walk in the park.
If possible, daytime sleep should be avoided. Who sleeps poorly at night, it is contraindicated to go to bed during the daytime.
The bedroom should be a cozy "nest". There is no place for a computer and TV in the room. You need to choose an orthopedic mattress and a good pillow to ensure your comfort during sleep. You can not read, watch TV series, eat while lying in bed. Before going to bed, the room must be ventilated. The influx of fresh air has a positive effect on sleep.
A well-spent day is the key to good sleep. An active lifestyle, physical exercise and outdoor walks strengthen the nervous system and promote healthy sleep.
Do not eat before bed. Dinner should not be heavy and no later than 2 hours before bedtime. If you take heavy food at night, this is fraught with frequent awakenings, since the body will have to digest it all night.
Coffee, cigarettes and alcohol. For the sake of your health, you need to give up these addictions.

How bad is lack of sleep

Sleep deprivation is a health hazard. Chronic sleep deprivation is a consequence of short sleep. During the week, this is the norm for many people and everyone looks forward to the weekend to get a good night's sleep. On Saturday and Sunday, people try to sleep 12 hours a day, thus trying to compensate for the lack of sleep during the week. For the body, this situation is stressful. Doctors called this phenomenon "sleepy bulimia."

Consequences of sleep deprivation:

concentration of attention decreases, a person cannot concentrate;
headaches appear;
diseases of the cardiac system develop;
immunity decreases;
performance deteriorates;
excess weight appears, which leads to obesity;
a person is tormented by insomnia, some people become depressed;
increased levels of cortisol - the stress hormone;
in men, against the background of an increase in testosterone levels by 30%, a tummy appears and the prostate gland can become inflamed.

Lack of sleep entails a violation of normal biorhythms. During the day, each system and organ has its own period of activity and rest. The chemical reactions that take place within us are also dependent on biological rhythms. Even minor changes in the regimen, when the sleep and wakefulness patterns differ from day to day, lead to serious consequences - internal disorders.

Over the course of a lifetime, a person must cope with lack of sleep on his own. But not all people can overcome problems on their own and eliminate factors that affect sleep deprivation.

Consequences associated with sleep disturbance:

Insomnia (insomnia). A person suffers from the fact that he cannot fall asleep, and if he falls asleep, then his sleep is not deep;
Parosomnia. The disease is expressed in the fact that a person experiences fear in a dream, he has nightmares. There is sleepwalking, enuresis, epileptic seizures.
Hypersomnia. A person wants to sleep all the time.
Intrasomnia. A state of frequent awakenings in the middle of the night.

Violations of the period of sleep and wakefulness lead to diseases of the endocrine system, metabolism is disturbed, immunity decreases, irritability appears. Often there are phenomena such as muscle pain, tremor, convulsions may appear.

If a person sleeps restlessly, be sure to seek help from a neurologist, visit a psychotherapist.

Why is oversleeping harmful?

Lack of sleep is definitely harmful, but what consequences can a long sleep, up to 10-12 hours a day, lead to? If a person sleeps for a long time, he has an overabundance of the sleep hormone. This affects very fast fatigue during wakefulness. You can often hear this phrase: "The more time I spend in a dream, the more I want to sleep." Oversleeping reduces immunity, leads to depression.

Sometimes a person goes to bed consciously to avoid solving pressing problems or to overcome fear in current situations. But the situation in this case only gets worse. Problems remain unresolved, and loved ones suffer from this.

Prolonged sleep affects the increase in pressure, blood stagnates in the vessels, migraine attacks become more frequent, edema appears (“bags” under the eyes).

It should be noted that the established framework for sleep is conditional. For each person, the duration of sleep in time is determined purely individually. Someone feels great after 6 hours of sleep, and someone does not have enough sleep for 8 hours. Each of us will have to develop an individual regimen, especially since life circumstances force a person to come to terms with the fact that he is given little time to sleep. But after a lack of sleep, a person should restore his strength by having a good rest.

Since childhood, we have known the golden rule that for a full and healthy life a person needs 8 hours of sleep. But is it really so? It turned out that these norms are very outdated, since they were withdrawn by the Ministry of Health already in 1959. Methodological recommendations for astronauts were taken as the basis of these norms. The rapid development of astronautics in the USSR of that period had a tangible impact on many areas of life, including ordinary citizens. In fact, the need for astronauts in a long sleep is due to the peculiarities of the functioning of the brain in weightlessness. Although for many years these norms applied to the entire adult population, which has nothing to do with space.

How many hours does a person need to sleep

After 30 years, the Moscow Institute of Somnology conducted large-scale studies on how much a person needs to sleep. The results of these studies have shown that an adult needs an average of 5.5 to 7 hours of sleep per day for sleep. Long-term observation of those who slept for 9 or more hours a day showed that 87% of these subjects developed a number of cardiovascular and neurological diseases over time. Such subjects complained of headaches, fatigue and a decrease in the overall tone of the body. Why is this so, if for many years it was believed that long sleep is the key to health?

Sleep phases

Sleep is given to man to restore his physical strength and mental activity. During sleep, metabolic processes take place, information is assimilated and "minor repairs" of all body systems are carried out. To figure out how much a person needs for sleep, it is necessary to consider its phases. Alternating, the phases of fast and slow sleep, replace each other according to a certain principle, and each performs its function. For example, in the phase of slow sleep, metabolic processes in cells and hormonal synthesis occur. In the phase of REM sleep, information is processed and assimilated, the acquired knowledge is systematized and ordered, which helps a person

However, the human brain, like an accumulator, has a certain “capacity”, and “recharging” with sleep beyond measure leads to premature wear and tear of the nervous system, causing almost as much harm as lack of sleep. The fact that inhibition processes begin to predominate in an overloaded sleeping brain has an extremely negative effect on all organs and systems. It is also important in which phase of sleep a person wakes up. The average duration of the slow sleep phase is 2 hours, the fast one is 20 minutes. Approximately every 2 hours and 20 minutes, you will be able to wake up without stress for the body in the phase of REM sleep, since the brain perceives it in approximately the same way as wakefulness. Usually, when waking up in REM sleep, a person feels kind and rested.

How many people can go without sleep

According to average statistics, a person can go without sleep for no more than 4 days. It is four days that is called the critical limit, beyond which irreversible processes begin to develop in the psyche.

In an effort to understand how much a person can do without sleep, many decided on desperate experiments. So, in 1986, Robert McDonald from California set an absolute world record for waking time - 453 hours 40 minutes (almost 19 days). Until now, there is no information in any source about what happened to the record holder later, and what such an experiment turned out to be for him.

Sleepless experiment

Blogger and experimenter Vitaly Popov conducted an experiment on himself in order to establish how many people can stay awake. As a result, Vitaly managed to hold out for 7 days. According to him, in the first two days without sleep, only weakness and slight nausea were felt. On the third day, connection with reality began to be lost, the border between day and night began to blur. On the fourth day, consciousness began to periodically turn off, and Vitaly began to observe himself, as it were, from the outside. On the fifth day, all alarming symptoms disappeared, only weakness and nausea remained, which were noted on the first day. On the sixth day, severe hallucinations and obsessions began. Speech is slow, reactions to pain are dulled. On the seventh day, it was decided to stop the experiment, because memory lapses developed from lack of sleep, appetite finally disappeared, inhibition processes prevailed, reactions to external stimuli began to fade - they began to falter. According to Vitaly, the exit from the experiment ended with a 10-hour sleep, without any negative consequences as a result. But this is rather an individual feature of a single person, since most of these experiments usually end in the development of severe mental disorders.

Sleep is a universal medicine for soul and body. But like any medicine, it should be taken carefully and wisely. Take it every day in sufficient quantity, but in any case do not abuse it. Remember about the individual needs and characteristics of each organism and consider your own. This will help you stay in the best shape and maintain a high quality of life for many years.