polyphasic sleep and weight lifters / bodybuilders?

[Kyle]

I'm wondering if there are any people who hit the gym seriously to put on muscle and also use polyphasic sleep.  Has anyone had good or bad experiences with it and can share anything?  Thx!!

[Joseph Stoppelbein]

Well, I started polyphasic back in September '08 with 3 hour core and 3 - 20
minute naps.
Then in February I started going to the gym - weight lifting 5 days a week
and running 3 days a week. I don't know if I'm 'serious' but I've added
some muscle to my arms and chest; lost 10 lbs and lost 2 inches in waist.
I found that I needed to add to my core. So I shifted to a 4.5 hour core
and 2 20 minute naps.
I've adjusted to that very well. It's just over 5 hours per day rather than
4 but its been ok.
Funny you post this because tonight I'm going back to my 3 hour core. I'm
going to try to see if my body has adjusted enough to the lifting to go back
to a 4 hour/day poly schedule. I guess we'll see.
Let me know what you think or have tried!

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[louis Slattery]

I decided to not do polyphasic for this very reason. Raised levels of cortisol are detremental to building mucle (its catabolic). Polyphasic increases levels of cortisol as does weight training. General stress also increases cortisol. There is also the old school bodybuilding dogma of sleep, eat, lift that does something to convey the importance of rest. If your just starting out its even more important as connective tissue has to increase to provide extra stability during tension. connective tissue heals and grows very slowly due to the poor blood supply to those tissues

 

For the last 2 months or so iv only been able to sleep 5-6 hours a night and havnt seen any increase in muscle mass. that being said i havnt been able to workout more than twice a week because i feel tired

 

As bad as all that sounds if you can fit your life into the polyphasic template (the other reason i didnt do polyphasic) i would give it a go. Elevated levels of cortisol generally result in a weakened immune system. so its a warning if your getting ill a lot (lol watch out for the swine flu). Gaining fat (not weight [i.e its ok to gain muscle]) is also an indication

 

You can reduce your levels of cortisol by avoiding stress and reducing stress. build up to at least 3 x 40 min of cardio every week (low intensity), take hot showers and baths (also steams, saunas and jacuzzis), get massages, etc. A vitamin C supplement may also help. Try and avoid alcohol and caffiene

 

Seriously go for it, try your best and let me know how it goes!

SSJ

2009/4/28 Joseph Stoppelbein <pasto...@gmail.com>

[russ]

Hey there Kyle,

I've been sleeping on an everyman schedule for the better part of this
year, with a 3 hour core and 3x25 min naps (a bit longer than
recommended but it suits me). In the last month and a half I've been
weight lifting 4 times a week and doing intense cardio 4 times a week.
My appetite has sky-rocketed, my muscle mass has increased (i've put
on 5kg, and can't see a bit of it), and I'm stronger. Perhaps if I
wasn't sleeping polpyhasically the results would be even more
noticeable, but I think it's safe to say that, for me at least, it's
working out fine.

Remember that the most important part of any body building/weight
lifting program is food, food and more food.
Good luck!