How crucial is 8-10 hours of sleep to muscle growth? I know 5-7 hours isn't optimal, but is progress, even slow, possible on 5-7 hours of sleep?

mercychild

New member
Due to changes in circumstances out of my control I now have to wake up at 6am everyday and commute early and I only make it back home at 7pm. Trying to do everything and get my workout and dinner in makes it really hard to be in bed early and get 8 hours of sleep. Is it even possible for me to make any gains at this point?
 
@mercychild The answer is yes, you can still make gains. I wake up at 6 for work and get home just before 7. I work out after work (at home, granted) then shower, eat and sleep. Probably get 6-7 hours on average.

Is more sleep better? Yes

Is less sleep the end of the world? No.
 
@mercychild 8-10 is optimal? Where did you get that idea from? I’ve never met anyone who regularly gets 9-10 hours of sleep a night unless they’re young.

Of course you can gain with 5-7 hours sleep a night. Why wouldn’t you be able to? You’re overplaying the importance of sleep in building a good physique. I’ve had long periods where 5 hours was a good night and made great progress. Life as an adult won’t always make 8 hours sleep possible if you have a career and kids. Still got to train.
 
@avalonforhim You guys are something else. In the first pic, as I said, I was a lifetime natty, with 19 years of training under my belt, most of that being a horrible sleeper between college, law school, practicing law, and having kids, and I still attained a very good physique. The fact that I got on TRT two years later and have been on it for two years is pretty much irrelevant to that point. As I said to the other guy, I could’ve just posted the first pic and the point would’ve been made adequately. Either your reading comprehension is poor or you just want to speak from a high horse.
 
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