How long should a perfect nap last?

by time news

2024-08-06 18:00:59

Sleep experts say that the perfect evening is sleeping 10 to 30 minutes after eating lunch. Can you meet that time?

Last update: August 6, 2024

There are those who think that perfect sleep does not exist in real life. Maybe you sleep too little and don’t get rest or you stretch out too much and wake up groggy. Believe it or not, There are scientific studies that analyze how long a nap should be to be beneficial.

Most agree that it is possible to rest in a healthy way in the afternoon, when we devote approximately 25 minutes to it.

Now, there is not just one type of heaven. And it is also true that each person has their principles and preferences; so what works for one, doesn’t always work for another.

What is the sun?

It is known as “night” the habit of resting for a few minutes or hours during the day. Generally, after lunch, in order to get energy for the rest of the day.

A 2017 clinical review He describes it as an episode of voluntary sleep that can last from a few minutes to about 90 minutes. This wide dream takes into account the changing world.

Well it is that culture is an almost natural habit, but it also has a parking culture. In different geographical areas it has a greater or lesser application.

For the Spanish, for example, it is part of the historical tradition. However, the pace of modern life, especially in urban areas, has reduced its use.

In China, the sun is right. The country’s constitution, enacted in 1948, established that workers could sleep at some point during their working day to increase productivity.

How many minutes of sleep is best?

The time for complete sleep depends on each person. It comes down to personal habits and the type of rest that each person needs.

However, the general recommendation is to avoid entering the body into deep sleep. That has to be said, not more than half an hour.

To understand why a perfect evening should be around 30 minutes, it is necessary to learn about the stages of sleep. It turns out that every time we sleep, we enter a cycle of physiological changes that lasts between 90 and 110 minutes and is repeated in subsequent periods, until we wake up. .

A complete environment has two main levels: REM and non-REM phases. The first got its name from the acronym moving face speed (“quick eye movements” in Spanish).

On the other hand, the non-REM part is the one that appears before REM and is divided into four parts: 1 and 2 respond to sleep, while 3 and 4 are sleep. Stage 4 coincides with REM and is when we dream.

A nap between 20 and 30 minutes will keep us in stages 1 and 2 of non-REM sleep. That is, without falling asleep.

Apart from, If we do not enter deep levels of relaxation, we avoid sleep inertia. This is the dazed feeling we have when we wake up and that’s it associated with low cognitive function.



26 minutes of NASA

A famous organization that contributes to the spread of the best time to sleep is NASA. It is done by a a study published in 1995in cooperation with the United States Transportation Board.

The magic number for them was 26 minutes. This time off increases employee productivity by 34% and increases alertness by 54%. Of whom? In the pilot of long-distance flight.

How long should sleep last depending on age?

Most research on sleep and its health effects is done with adults between the ages of 18 and 65. For them, 25 minutes is the goal. However, age is a key factor in this case.

A 6-month-old baby usually sleeps between 2 and 6 hours during the day, in addition to night rest. That time adjusts to 2 or 3 hours of sleep by age one and 1 hour by age four.

Around 94% of children They give up sleep when they turn 5. Already in adolescence, sleep will return between 30 and 60 minutes, according to study published in the journal Sleep Medicine.

For older adults there is no universal consensus. Traditionally, it has always been recommended that those over 65 try not to sleep. This will disrupt your sleep and promote insomnia, a common disorder of old age.

However, one the latest program review from 2022 published that there is insufficient evidence to limit sleep in older adults. Therefore, the most sensible idea seems to be to equalize the insurance to that of all elderly people.

Different effects of long sleep

A lot of research is devoted to reveal the effects of smoking on the body, depending on the time spent on it. A work published in the magazine Neck analyze time ranges between 5 and 30 minutes. The results suggest that The benefits are not limited to the body in sleeps shorter than 5 minutes.

And although less than 5 minutes is out of the question and around 20-30 minutes is the appropriate amount for most, you will be surprised to know that there are scientific studies that support the idea of ​​lunch breaks a little bit We will see.

Different times of the day.

The concept of “perfect” sleep will depend on individual needs. The requirements of an office worker are not the same as that of a famous athlete.

10 minutes of sleep

  • Benefits: increase alertness and energy level, as well as reduce fatigue. In addition, there is little solar inertia.
  • Disadvantages: It is difficult to succeed in practice. Between talking and sleeping can take the time you need and interfere with commitments.
  • Recommended for: Office workers who have little time and want to fill their capacity.

20 minutes of sleep

  • Benefits: improve the presentation time and performance of cognitive tasks. These benefits last up to 2 hours after you wake up.
  • Disadvantages: Inertia sleep takes about 35 minutes and, from then on, the benefits are only noticeable. Even so, the benefits are not comparable to those obtained with a 10-minute nap.
  • Recommended for: adults in general. It is a valid amount of minutes.

half hour nap

  • Benefits: Cognitive benefits last up to 155 minutes after waking up. According to another study published in Neckhalf hour supply time advances in memory encoding.
  • Disadvantages: It has a famous sleep inertia, so the benefits are not immediately appreciated and the subsequent use time can be reduced.
  • Recommended for: people who must do tasks that require memory, such as studying.

Sleep more than 30 minutes

  • Benefits: a work published in the magazine Frontiers in Physiology considering that 45 minutes are the maximum opportunity for physical activity. The study was conducted with 17 physically active young people, aged 21 years on average.
  • Disadvantages: There is confusion on awakening and great sleep inertia. It may take a long time to fully work.
  • Recommended for: only sportsman.

Nap of more than 60 minutes

  • Benefits: Naps that last more than an hour cross all stages of sleep and generate greater physical relaxation. They are the choice to recover the lost rest the previous night.
  • Disadvantages: Prolonged sleep in people who sleep less than 7 hours a night is associated with a increased risk of diabetes. In turn, they increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases and overall death, according to data it is published Sleep Medicine Reviews.
  • Recommended for: people who need to achieve a certain amount of hours of rest for better education, sports or work, and suffer from night insomnia.

What is the best time and place?

The word siesta has its origin in Latin afternoon, the word used by the Romans to refer to the sixth hour of the afternoon, which is noon. Hence, the ancient tradition marks that time for lunch break. Something that remains, with variations, today.

A general recommendation would be to set bedtime between 1 and 4 pm.. After lunch, circadian rhythms naturally decrease, which promotes relaxation and sleep.

If we want to be more specific, we can be guided by a Scientific report 2019. There the researchers proved this Physical and mental performance is best if sleep occurs between 2 and 3 p.m..

However, the best times to sleep depend on each person, their training and work habits, and their regular nighttime rest patterns. Even so, it would always be advisable to sleep in an area with the following characteristics:

  • Silence.
  • Poor lighting.
  • Cold summer.

If you need an alarm to wake up, set one that is gradual and doesn’t produce a loud, sudden noise. On the other hand, if you lie on the sofa, make sure it is comfortable, where it fits well, without going up. For some people, it is better to avoid bed, as it encourages them to sleep longer.

The benefits of sleep

Poor sleep has negative consequences for the body. You can notice it immediately, when you wake up after a night that seems short.

The wrong holiday causes chronic fatiguememory impairment and increase the risk of high blood pressure. Therefore the sun can come to our rescue to fill us with energy and compensation for time not completed during the night shift. But there are more benefits.



Reduce fatigue and promote learning

A study published in the magazine Advances in Brain Research suggests that nap reduce drowsiness and improve cognitive performance. For its part, in children, it is positively associated with learn new words.

Similarly, sleep often during the day it will favor long-term memory tasks. And the good thing is that this benefit includes those who sleep regularly, but those who do so suddenly.

Contribute to a better mood

short naps has the ability to perceive how we feel. They also help overcome the feeling of evening depression have a greater tolerance for frustration.

Improves overall health

A publication of American University suggested that Napping is related to a decrease in blood pressure values. This effect is even compared to that caused by lifestyle changes and even the use of drugs.

Fragrances are also associated with the larger the total brain size. Although this is not linked to better reaction time or more visual memory, it may be a protective factor against neurodegenerative diseases.

Schedule a nap every day, but don’t let it take too long

You already know how long sleep should last to be considered adequate: more than 10 minutes, but less than 30. You will have to decide the time, according to your opportunities. The ideal seems to be between 2 and 3 pm, although that may vary depending on your lunch schedule.

Achieving a daily schedule to have a day off is not always possible. Obligations of various kinds stop thoughts.

In any case, now that you know your advantages, you will probably make a lot of effort to have the moment in your favor. And if you think that it might be a way to compensate for your insomnia at night, it is better to consult a doctor to rule out other serious problems.

#long #perfect #nap

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