@dearlyloved Ok gotcha, ye I mean it could be related to circadian rhythm, maybe you are still getting the same amount of deep sleep,but I am no sleep expert so maybe others can chime in. The way I understood it, was more akin to - getting 8 hours sleep is optimal, so if you're plateuing make sure you're getting enough sleep, so in this case since you weren't plateuing it might be harder to tell a difference
Maybe you are an outlier and 3-4 hours is all you need.
Maybe you have improved with better sleep but you aren't aware.
For one you wouldn't keep progressing at the same rate indefinitely. In the latter 6 months with better sleep you were also more far along in your muscle development and hence you would normally expect progress to slow.
However now you were sleeping better which gave you a boost and you have maintained your rate of growth. Just a possible reason.
In any case for most people good sleep is crucial.
@dearlyloved Because sleep is incredible, but the point is not more sleep is better. The point is enough sleep for you. Obviously, your 3-4 hours was tolerable for your physical recovery (albeit not your mental recovery). Although I'd argue there are likely physical benefits that you have not/are not noticing outside of simple lift progression in the gym.
@dearlyloved Counter thought - maybe you would have plateaued already if you didn't increase your sleep. By sleeping more you have been able to continue to progress?
@dearlyloved I’ve came to the same conclusion tbh. I have weeks I sleep 5 hours a night and weeks I sleep 8-9 hours a night. I train with the same intensity and still feel equally rested. Still progress the same. If I slept poorly I like to do early morning cardio, I generally feel better through the day even into my noon gym session.
@dearlyloved Weird that you shrug off feeling much better mentally as if that isn’t just as important. Odds are you are recovering better physically you just don’t realize it.
@dearlyloved How old are you if you could work with 0-6 hours a night? Its more the 0 im interested in. When i was young, that could work. In my 30s, i wouldnt be able to move with your schedule and 0-6 a night.
@dearlyloved A bad night of sleep means the next day I will be weaker in the gym. Not sure how much it matters long term since I've never been a good sleeper and still made plenty of gains in the gym.
@dearlyloved progression is dependent on a lot of factors. one of the factors is sleep.. you fixed..may be you need to fix other aspects like technique, diet, exercise variation...there are multitude of factors
@dearlyloved My performance is always inconsistent with my sleep. Some days I get little sleep and end up breaking PRs but sometimes I get plenty of sleep and everything feels heavier somehow lol
