A man in Japan has slept only 30 minutes each day for 12 years in a bid to “double” his life, claiming it has improved his work efficiency.
Daisuke Hori (40) claims that he only sleeps 30 minutes a day in a bid to gain more hours for training. Hori is an entrepreneur, who loves music, painting and mechanical design. He trains at the gym for 16 hours a week. Hori says the little sleep he gets has not had any adverse effect on his health because he has trained his brain and body to function like normal. He claims he never feels tired.
While people have been told to sleep at least eight hours at night for optimal health, Hori seems to have defied the notion.
He started cutting back on his sleep hours to add more active hours to his day. This led him to come way down to just 30-45 minutes of sleep time per day.
“As long as you do sports or drink coffee an hour before eating, you can stave off drowsiness,” he said.
He insists that the quality of sleep matters more than the hours you get. Citing the example of doctors and firefighters, Hori says they are highly efficient despite getting little rest.
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“People who need sustained focus in their work benefit more from high-quality sleep than long sleep. For instance, doctors and firefighters have shorter rest periods but maintain high efficiency,” he said.
Hori teaches people the art of less sleep
Around eight years back, Hori started the Japan Short Sleepers Training Association. He teaches people to manage on little sleep and claims to have trained more than 2,100 students to become ultra-short sleepers.
Japan’s Yomiuri TV followed him around for a reality show for three days and saw him wake up one day after just 26 minutes of sleep, fully refreshed and energised.
One of his students told the channel that she has come down from eight hours to just 90 minutes of sleep and has been doing so for the last four years. She insists the reduced rest hasn’t had any negative effect on her physical or mental health, and she looks better than ever.
Hori’s sleep habits have triggered a debate on social media. While some people are in awe and want to learn the art of less sleep, others say that it might ultimately put pressure on the heart.
Doctors also suggest getting seven to nine hours of sleep every night to let the body and brain recover and to avoid heart disease.
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