My sleep tracking results baffled me – do we really need eight hours?

How much sleep do we actually need? The NHS suggests that a healthy adult should ideally get between seven to nine hours of sleep each night for optimal functioning.

However, many successful individuals throughout history have claimed that less sleep does not necessarily hinder performance. For instance, former US President Donald Trump once confessed to sleeping only three or four hours each night to stay competitive, while SpaceX founder Elon Musk reportedly sleeps just six hours as part of his rigorous routine.

While such habits may have aided Trump and Musk in their business endeavours, insufficient sleep can have numerous negative impacts on the mental and physical health of the average person. Experts warn that sleep deprivation can exacerbate anxiety and depression, increase the risk of serious health issues like high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes, impair cognitive abilities, and even cause unexpected weight gain or loss.

This is just scratching the surface, with conditions such as strokes, certain types of cancer and dementia all reported to be more prevalent in those who struggle with sleep. As a journalist with a background in health and wellbeing, I am well aware of the significance of good sleep habits and their impact on our mind and body.

After all, you can only write so much about the late Dr Michael Mosley’s health tips before you start incorporating them into your own daily routine. Despite having a fairly decent sleep schedule, there are still days when my alarm goes off and all I want to do is pull the covers over my head and repeatedly hit snooze because I don’t feel rested enough to face the day.

This is despite following the NHS’ golden rules for sleep, maintaining a balanced diet, getting plenty of exercise, and having no underlying health conditions. Intrigued to learn more about my sleep patterns, I researched various trackers and came across WHOOP 4.0.

I’ve experimented with numerous apps on my phone in the past to better understand my sleep quality, but none have met my expectations. However, after delving into the WHOOP device and understanding what metrics it offers and how it collects data, I was convinced. But what did I discover from testing this highly-praised gadget that celebrities and athletes swear by? Let me break it down.

A bit of background information

I’ve always considered myself a healthy individual. I maintain a balanced diet with three meals and snacks, keep myself hydrated, hit the gym four times a week with my best mate for heavy weightlifting, participate in three kickboxing classes weekly, and ensure I get enough sleep.

On an average night, I manage to secure about eight hours of uninterrupted sleep – perhaps waking up once to use the loo (as I approach 31, my bladder isn’t as resilient as it once was). However, I confess that on days when I start work at 7am, I might be fortunate to clock in around six hours of sleep.

Despite tiring myself out during the day, I find it challenging to retire early, and the 6.30am alarm can be brutal – particularly when it’s still dark outside and I’m snugly wrapped in my blanket like a warm, toasted cinnamon roll. On such mornings, I feel rather groggy for the first hour or so after waking up, but this usually subsides as the day goes on. Even though I generally feel energised after a full eight-hour sleep, there are days when I feel as if I’ve barely had half that amount of quality rest.

How does WHOOP function?

The WHOOP 4.0 utilises your heart rate and GPS signal to monitor the total time you spend in bed, as well as the number of hours you slept, the duration spent in REM and deep sleep stages, and the frequency of disturbances causing you to wake up.

After a week of wearing the device, your WHOOP will inform you how much sleep your body requires based on the strain from your daily activities, automatically setting a bedtime depending on your exertion levels. As I pen this review, for instance, I’ve set my alarm for 8.30am tomorrow.

Consequently, WHOOP has advised me that if I aim to perform at my peak, I should retire to bed by 11.29pm tonight. However, this will alter as the day unfolds. For example, if I hit the gym for an intense 45-minute workout, WHOOP will extend my bedtime as I’ve pushed myself and need additional recovery time.

Similarly, if I take the dog for a 15-minute stroll, WHOOP will also add more time to my bedtime tonight, although significantly less than if I were to exercise as I’ll be exerting less strain on myself. The WHOOP app also offers users real-time suggestions on how they can enhance their performance, while also providing deep breathing exercises for those who find it difficult to relax and unwind at night.

Why do I feel so run down?

I feel like I’m doing everything correctly to be upbeat and energetic at work and in my social life but half the time I simply feel too drained to perform at my best. As I write this piece, for example, I feel slightly weary and like I could jump back into bed for a power nap, but I’ll resist.

But why is this? It appears that several factors related to my sleep schedule are hindering my nightly recovery. Primarily, I’m waking up more frequently than I initially thought. One of the useful features of WHOOP is its ability to break down each stage of your sleep in real-time, allowing you to delve into the precise moments when your body reaped the most benefits from rest and identify areas for improvement.

As I mentioned earlier, I feel like I only wake up once during the night to use the bathroom, but WHOOP has informed me that I actually wake up eight or nine times on average each night. These instances are fleeting, so they often go unnoticed, and like me, you may not even realise they’re occurring.

Let’s consider last night’s sleep as an example. I woke up 13 times in total throughout the night before finally deciding to get out of bed. I fell asleep at 1.18am this morning (forgive me, it’s a weekend) and woke up at 8am – but remember, the clocks went back, so technically, I was unconscious for seven hours and 43 minutes.

However, my WHOOP data reveals that I spent 42 minutes of that time awake. I first woke up at 1.45am, then again at 3.39am. I experienced two brief awakenings between four and five, with the remainder of my brief periods of wakefulness occurring between 6.30am and 8am.

Frequently waking up throughout the night has all the negative health impacts I mentioned earlier, so it’s no surprise that I’m feeling so rotten and full of brain fog despite thinking I’ve had eight hours or more. The second reason my mood and productivity have taken a nosedive relates to my sleep stages.

Looking at last night’s data, I spent five hours and 25 minutes in light sleep – while the average person only spends between three-and-a-half to four-and-a-half hours of their cycle in this stage. This had a domino effect on my SWS (deep sleep), where I only clocked one hour and two minutes.

For comparison, the average person experiences around one-and-a-half to two hours in this phase, so realising that I was getting half the recommended amount was quite shocking. Regarding REM (Rapid Eye Movement), I spent a disappointing seven per cent of my night in this phase – 34 minutes to be precise. “How much should one get? ” you might wonder. Well, one should experience 20 to 25 per cent of their sleep in the form of REM – equating to roughly two hours in total. Brilliant.

So, what’s next?

After a quick online search for “How to stop waking up in the middle of the night”, I’ve found several things that I need to change to significantly improve my sleep quality. After all, we know just how crucial it is for us. Firstly, I need to establish and adhere to a bedtime routine. If the earliest I need to rise for work at 7am is 6.30am, then that should be my wake-up time regardless of my shift.

Even if I’m working from 12pm-8pm, I should maintain that 6.30am wake-up and retire at a time that ensures ample sleep for peak performance. Additionally, I must refrain from using digital devices before bedtime. Regrettably, as a millennial, I’ve grown increasingly dependent on video game consoles, laptops, televisions, and mobile phones over the past decade.

It’s embarrassing to confess, but I struggle to sleep without a podcast or some sort of YouTube video playing in the background. However, I need to eliminate all this an hour before bedtime to ensure proper sleep. It might be a bit of a challenge to implement, but I suppose I’ll give it my best shot for the sake of my health.

While WHOOP is not without its flaws, it can be a bit challenging to navigate and understand the app when you first use it, particularly for those new to metric tracking devices. The app is filled with jargon that many may find confusing, and I had to look up a few terms like HRV (Heart Rate Variability) to fully grasp what the app was referring to and how it related to my health.

There’s also a calibration period required to establish your personal metrics before the app starts offering specific suggestions. This isn’t necessarily a fault of WHOOP, as it needs to familiarise itself with your body and its functions before it can provide optimal advice. However, you won’t truly see the benefits of the band until about a week in.

WHOOP comes with a price tag of £229 for an annual membership or £27 per month, which includes a WHOOP 4.0 device with a lifetime warranty. If you’re looking for a more affordable fitness and sleep tracker without a subscription, the Garmin Forerunner 55 might be worth considering.