exercise vs sleep

[billows Member Find all posts View Profile Close billows]

Hi guys
just wanted to know what you think is better health wise (know that both arent great options). 5 hours sleep or 4 hours and 30min exercise.

[Jay1983 Senior MemberMember of the Month Apr 2014, Sept 2016 Find all posts View Profile Close Jay1983]

Neither. Okay, 5 hours of sleep.

[MrHammer Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close MrHammer]

I am gonna try not to say anything weird... But seriously. Just sleep those 7-8 hours, and exercise 1 hour time 3 a week and you be fine.
Can't really understand why it's a choice between the two??

[billows Member Find all posts View Profile Close billows]

Hi, I'm sort of forced between the 2, due to the distance I have to travel to work an exams I have to write. 5 hours is probably the max time I can afford to sleep and I have no time to workout. I guess the 4 hrs is ridiculous. Will maybe look up 1 of those 10min full body workouts on the net and try to get to the gym on the weekend.

[MrHammer Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close MrHammer]

Well, now that you have given some reason behind it, then I will say that you should probably cut back on the exercising, unless you can get a proper night sleep in the weekends and then train. Sadly enough, developing/retaining muscles only really happens if you sleep well... So in periods like that, you should try to do as little "hard" workout as possible, and eat well. After all, I assume this is not a long continuous plan you got? So just relax, get over with the exams, then get back in the gym when you actually have energy.

But that's just my advice. Do what you feel like

[MrsLooking4more Retired Super Moderator Member of the Month Feb 2013PEGym Hero Find all posts View Profile Close MrsLooking4more]

Hi, I'm sort of forced between the 2, due to the distance I have to travel to work an exams I have to write. 5 hours is probably the max time I can afford to sleep and I have no time to workout. I guess the 4 hrs is ridiculous. Will maybe look up 1 of those 10min full body workouts on the net and try to get to the gym on the weekend.

The 10 Minutes workouts are pretty good. I use the Tony Horton one when I travel and have no access to a GYm or no time due to conference schedules. Then do your regular routine on the weekends.

[mikeguima Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close mikeguima]

Hi guys
just wanted to know what you think is better health wise (know that both arent great options). 5 hours sleep or 4 hours and 30min exercise.

Sleep. Find time to sleep until you get to at least 7 hours, then start exercising. Sleeping is a lot more important than working out.

[9TeXaS0BaD3BoY Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close 9TeXaS0BaD3BoY]

I have it built in my head that if I don't go everyday then I will lose all my gains and everything I've worked for I'll have to get back. I know that is not true, but if I don't go I feel like shit about myself. This is my routine, daily... Mon-Fri I go from 6am to 730am Sat 8am to 930/10am Sun 10am to noon. I don't do a total body workout everyday, I go upper one day and lower the next and alternating areas each day and always changing my workout. I hit the heavy bag a lot and do squats and cardio daily. My goal is to just stay lean, maybe get a little bigger though. On top of all that, I go to bed every night around 1130 or 12 and wake up at 530am.....

[MrHammer Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close MrHammer]

Sorry TexasBB.
But sound to me like you are not working out efficiently!!

First of all.. if you really wanna work out that many time a week you should probably spilt it into more specialized trainings!
Example could be:
Mon: Chest. Tue: Back. Wed: Legs. Thu: Shoulders and Triceps. Fri: Biceps and calfs. Sat: Abs and a tiny bit lower back (evt. do Deadlift on this day... so the other on is mostly "upper back"). Sun: Off!

But to be honest: You can gain fine on only 2-4 days in the gym on full body or 2/3 split. And done efficiently without too much flirting, the you can actually be out of the gym 45-70 minutes later!

About getting bigger and getting leaner... well... You kind of have to choose one! Sorry to say this to all that believe in that magical unicorn that just created the magical training program to gain muscles and loss fat..
Unless that unicorns name is Steroids, then it doesn't really work that way.
Okay.. If you are total newbie, you might see some kind of gains in the start that give you a bit of both, but for everybody else:
If you Are in calorie deficit: you loss weight. And if you are in surplus: you gain weight.
The next step is to figure out how to be only a bit in plus or minus your daily need so you only (mostly) gain muscles, or only (mostly) loss fat.
Which might only be plus minus 500 calories per day from you equilibrium calorie intake.

And now here comes the most important part: Sleep!!
The time that you actually gain muscles or for that sake, lose fat. Is when you sleep!! Generally it is recommended to sleep something like 7-9 hours throughout the day for people doing lifting to get enough rest to see most positive gain.

So Im not saying that what you do is totally bad for you.. Maybe you will see some kind of gain of muscles or loss of fat... But the way you do it don't sound to great..

Anyway. Like said before. This is just my advice. Do what you feel like

[Toadstool Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Toadstool]

Well you can probably get both. 4.5 hours of exercise is ridiculous. Cut that by 2.5 and sleep instead. Now you have 7.5 hours of sleep + 2 hours of exercise. That sounds healthiest to me

[9TeXaS0BaD3BoY Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close 9TeXaS0BaD3BoY]

Sorry TexasBB.
But sound to me like you are not working out efficiently!!

First of all.. if you really wanna work out that many time a week you should probably spilt it into more specialized trainings!
Example could be:
Mon: Chest. Tue: Back. Wed: Legs. Thu: Shoulders and Triceps. Fri: Biceps and calfs. Sat: Abs and a tiny bit lower back (evt. do Deadlift on this day... so the other on is mostly "upper back"). Sun: Off!

But to be honest: You can gain fine on only 2-4 days in the gym on full body or 2/3 split. And done efficiently without too much flirting, the you can actually be out of the gym 45-70 minutes later!

About getting bigger and getting leaner... well... You kind of have to choose one! Sorry to say this to all that believe in that magical unicorn that just created the magical training program to gain muscles and loss fat..
Unless that unicorns name is Steroids, then it doesn't really work that way.
Okay.. If you are total newbie, you might see some kind of gains in the start that give you a bit of both, but for everybody else:
If you Are in calorie deficit: you loss weight. And if you are in surplus: you gain weight.
The next step is to figure out how to be only a bit in plus or minus your daily need so you only (mostly) gain muscles, or only (mostly) loss fat.
Which might only be plus minus 500 calories per day from you equilibrium calorie intake.

And now here comes the most important part: Sleep!!
The time that you actually gain muscles or for that sake, lose fat. Is when you sleep!! Generally it is recommended to sleep something like 7-9 hours throughout the day for people doing lifting to get enough rest to see most positive gain.

So Im not saying that what you do is totally bad for you.. Maybe you will see some kind of gain of muscles or loss of fat... But the way you do it don't sound to great..

Anyway. Like said before. This is just my advice. Do what you feel like

I tried it that way at first, no gains. So I started going more and more and going more intense. I started at over 300lbs in 2009 and now I'm at 165-170. I am getting bigger and leaner, doing it this way compared to what I tried before. I don't always do chest or just biceps and I never just do the same old stuff. I always look for new workouts to try and do less but gain more. As far as my calorie intake, its over 4000 a day. I eat 4 meals and snack in between those. Not saying I m doing it right, but Its showing a difference now more than how I was going. My only problem I have noticed as of late is this damn belly fat... But I think most of that is my digestive system being so sluggish and I can't afford my probiotic so... Anyway, I am always willing to listen to anyone that works out and knows things and can help, and I can and will do the same if I can. Some things I can't do because of my lower back. I can't do traditional squats or dead lifts. I do know I need more sleep, but how can I force myself to sleep when I have so much on my mind that all I do is think and analyze shit lol... Maybe I'll try that routine out again though

[faithandhope Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close faithandhope]

This is my routine, daily... Mon-Fri I go from 6am to 730am Sat 8am to 930/10am Sun 10am to noon

Hey, just saying man but you know that when you workout for more than ~1 hour, that your body produces Cortisol, which is catastrophic to bodybuilders. Why, you ask? Well, Cortisol has 3 functions.. It REDUCES protein synthesis, changes protein into glucose for immediate energy, AND halts tissue growth!! The 3 WROST things you could ask for.. Something to look into man, a solid 50 minute routine can be ruined be sticking around for another 40 minutes of overtraining!

And to the OP, I have been in that stressful situation, balancing sleep with workouts/PE. I personally went balls to the wall and would hit the gym, do my PE, and get 4 hours of sleep, instead of doing neither and getting 7 hours. It just made me feel more productive. If you can handle not improving yourself for a short amount of time then just say fuck it, you deserve the sleep, exams are a high stress time.

[9TeXaS0BaD3BoY Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close 9TeXaS0BaD3BoY]

Hey, just saying man but you know that when you workout for more than ~1 hour, that your body produces Cortisol, which is catastrophic to bodybuilders. Why, you ask? Well, Cortisol has 3 functions.. It REDUCES protein synthesis, changes protein into glucose for immediate energy, AND halts tissue growth!! The 3 WROST things you could ask for.. Something to look into man, a solid 50 minute routine can be ruined be sticking around for another 40 minutes of overtraining!

And to the OP, I have been in that stressful situation, balancing sleep with workouts/PE. I personally went balls to the wall and would hit the gym, do my PE, and get 4 hours of sleep, instead of doing neither and getting 7 hours. It just made me feel more productive. If you can handle not improving yourself for a short amount of time then just say fuck it, you deserve the sleep, exams are a high stress time.

I have heard that but never gave it much thought, will give it a try though. Most of that extra time I spend in the gym a day is doing a 30 to 45 min walk or run before or after my workout. I have tried so many ways to workout and I have tried to stay out of there so long, but I am addicted to it. Might be the death of me, that and all the stress and the shitty sleep I get.

[Smith Wood Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Smith Wood]

Sleep is extremely good. Not only does it really feel wonderful nevertheless it makes it possible to burn off fat better, beefs up your own defense mechanisms, makes you wiser, lowers despression symptoms helping prevent unfortunate decisions.

[billows Member Find all posts View Profile Close billows]

Yeah, i knw these last few months have made me realise how valuable sleep is. i can really tell that this lack of sleep is going to ruin me in the long run. The funny thing about working out is that i'm currently just doing tons of cardio trying to lean of drastically. unfortunately, i was one of those silly kids who started of gyming mainly chest and arms - i'm at a point where i'm not happy with my body. been doing cardio just trying to lean of and lose some of the bulky muscular appearance. Maybe the lack of gyming is not such a bad thing - just doesnt feel right. i guess i should just concentrate on the diet for a little while