How much deep sleep is needed
Updated
June 28, 2021
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Updated
June 28, 2021
Worrying about how much sleep you’re getting? If so, we cover how much deep sleep is essential. In addition to that, we will discuss a variety of topics regarding proper sleep patterns so that you can gain a better understanding of sleep. We will also cover;
You should sleep between 12-13% in deep sleep. So if you get the recommended 8 hours of sleep, you need about 2 hours of deep sleep.
Suppose you're having trouble sleeping and require a solution to get into a deep sleep. You can try some of these tips that might help you to get proper deep sleep.
Deep sleep is the period during sleep when your body and muscles fall into deep relaxation, slowing your brain waves and may be difficult to wake you up from your sleep. But, if you do, you might feel irritated and tired. It is also often called slow-wave sleep or delta sleep.
This deep sleep usually occurs during the first half of sleep. And also, during this stage, the speed of your pulse and breath is at the lowest level. So this deep sleep helps you to wake in the morning feeling refreshed.
Do you question yourself about how much deep sleep I should get? Generally, sleep patterns vary individually, and it changes with age. However, studies show that deep sleep should cover at least 20% of your night's sleep. According to New Health Advisor, adults require about 8-9 hours of sleep, around 1.5-1.8 hours of deep sleep.
Your body goes through four stages of sleep cycles during the night.
All the stages of sleep are essential, but deep sleep and REM sleep is the most crucial stage that helps you remain active throughout the day.
A night of deep sleep is the longest stage of sleep which lasts for about 45-90 minutes. So if you're sleeping for 8 hours, you should be getting around 2 hours of deep sleep.
A deep sleep significantly contributes to improving your mental and physical health. To achieve a good amount of deep sleep, try eliminating negative habits that disturb your sleep, such as late-night snacks or binge-watching. In addition, it would be best to try to get at least 8 hours of sleep and ensure that you don't take long naps during the day, which might keep you up from sleeping at night. You can watch this video to know how to get deep sleep naturally.
An average of 7-9 hours of sleep is needed for adults, although it varies individually. The more you sleep, the more you'll get a night of deep sleep, and it is when your body starts to repair and remove toxins.
Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is a stage after deep sleep where you start dreaming. REM sleep can improve your memory, learning and increases brain activity. To improve your REM sleep, ensure that you have a regular bedtime routine, avoid alcohol or caffeinated drinks before bed, get enough sleep, and take care of mental health.
REM sleep varies according to age, and it decreases as we age. Therefore, your REM sleep depends on how much sleep you get. For example, babies sleep for about 18 hours a day, spending 50% of their sleep in REM. While adults require sleep for 7-8 hours a day with 20-25% in REM sleep, which is about 90 minutes.
The ideal REM sleep is around 90 minutes for adults, covering about 20-25% of your sleep time if you sleep for 7-8 hours.
Before entering REM sleep, you go through different sleep cycles such as light sleep, intermediate sleep, deep sleep, and REM sleep. REM sleep is when your eyes move rapidly and your brains are more active, which occurs after 90 minutes of sleep. It lasts for about 10 minutes and increases with sleep.
Fitbit can help you get better sleep by tracking your sleep patterns and how much sleep you're getting in each sleep cycle by monitoring your heartbeat and body movements. Although every individual requires a different amount of sleep, CDC recommends at least 7 hours of sleep for adults.
According to a Fitbit study, an average user lays in bed for around seven hours and thirty-three minutes but only gets about six hours and thirty-eight minutes of sleep. And the fifty-five minutes in between is when they're awake or feeling restless.
To get more rem sleep with Fitbit, you can try these methods:
During sleep, you go through three sleep cycles or non-REM before you get into REM sleep. In the process, it takes around an hour and a half for the individual to enter REM sleep.
In healthy adults, about 20%-25% of their total sleep is REM. According to the sleep foundation, the average duration of REM sleep is 10-60 minutes. It is a stage when your brain activates, but your body is under temporary paralysis and when most of your vivid dreams occur.
A normal sleep pattern of an average person is around 7 hours. But, it is not the same for everyone, and all have different sleep routines. As we age, our sleep starts to decrease, which results in getting less sleep—our daily sleep routine declines beginning from childhood, youth, adulthood, and old age.
Babies sleep for 16-20 hours a day, youth or adults require 7-9 hours of sleep, and older adults need at least 7-8 hours of sleep.
Sleeping patterns are affected most commonly due to age, work, stress, or various factors. But it is best to get the right amount of sleep to remain active. An individual should aim to sleep for 7-9 hours every day, which the sleep foundation recommends.
The deep sleep or delta sleep stage of sleep is considered necessary for well-being, while all sleep stages are also essential. Your body is completely relaxed in this stage, where hormonal changes, healing, and growth occur. Deep sleep is vital to remain fit and healthy because, without deep sleep, a person is more prone to depression, sickness, or obesity.
During this stage, common sleep disorders like sleepwalking or bedwetting occur. In addition, if a person wakes from this sleep, they are more likely to be irritated and grumpy.
There are four sleep stages known as light sleep, intermediate sleep, deep sleep, and REM. Among the four, the fourth stage, i.e., REM or rapid eye movement, is the deepest sleep stage, and it takes about 20% of your sleep. A person's body at this stage is inactive where you start dreaming, and your eyes move rapidly.
This sleep is essential as it helps restore your brain, and lack of REM sleep can lead to memory loss, mental health problems, low concentration levels, etc.
Light sleep or Non-REM sleep is the first stage of sleep. In this stage, it takes about 5% of your sleep. During light sleep, you're going through a transitional period from being alert to slowly falling into sleep. However, your brain remains active, and noise or any disturbance can quickly wake you up. Light sleep lasts for around 5 to 10 minutes.
Stage 3 ( DeepSleep) and 4 ( REM sleep) are when you start getting into a deep sleep and where your brain waves are lowest. It isn't easy to wake a person from this sleep. A person's deep sleep lasts between 45-90 minutes, and REM sleep occurs after 90 minutes of sleep.
Spending an average of 75% in Non-REM and 25% in REM sleep, people under age 30 may get deep sleep for 2 hours and 1.5 for above 65 years.
As crucial as deep sleep is, light sleep should not be overlooked because, without a light sleep, one cannot enter into a deep sleep. An equal amount of each sleep cycle is necessary for well-being. In light sleep, you can sometimes experience a sudden jerk or muscle cramp. A person spends an average of 10 minutes in this sleep stage.
You can get light sleep any time of the day if you feel like resting or are tired to energize yourself. You can set the alarm and try to get sleep when you don't have enough sleep during the night. It works great to freshen you up from the light energy. Just make sure that you don't oversleep because it will rob off your night's sleep.