Those late nights and early mornings are really a killer combination. Most of us snooze the alarm until late afternoon (on the days we do not have class). For me, this is every Tuesday and Thursday. My first class begins at 1:35 and I have gotten used to sleeping in until 12. However, I do not feel as energized as I hope to each time I wake up around noon. Instead I feel sluggish and I long for an extra hour to lay in bed. I’ve been blaming this on my recent lack of sleep in general, but perhaps there is a scientific explanation behind it.

Dr. Michael J Breus in his article with Huffington Post informs us that our body follows a sleep-wake cycle called the circadian rhythm. Just like any bodily pattern, our sleep cycles can be easily interrupted. The circadian rhythm becomes interrupted when we oversleep. Oversleeping also ends up with our “body clocks” telling the wrong time, therefore resulting in fatigue or issues with sleeping patterns.

While our body follows a cycle, sleep itself is a cycle as well. Dr. breus provides us with the knowledge behind sleep cycles. He says that each cycle generally lasts for 80-120 minutes and on average we experience 5 of these cycles while we sleep. So oversleeping leads to an increase in the amount of cycles which often leads to waking up within the middle of a cycle. Waking up in the middle of a cycle, such as REM, causes you to feel pretty awful when you wake up.

So it really is no wonder why I’ve been feeling even more tired when I wake up. In order to keep yourself on track with your sleeping schedule it is important to go to bed and wake up generally around the same time each day.

sources:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-michael-j-breus/how-come-i-feel-more-tire_b_428928.html

http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/guide/sleep-101