An Hour of Sleep vs. An Hour of Gym?

I had an interesting comment on my post about stepping up my fitness plan. Guinness416 suggested, “Get up an hour or so earlier and work out then.” I’ve done morning workouts in the past, but have sense focused a more time into my blogs such as this one and Lazy Man and Money. I’m working on some additional side business and they take time as well.

This brings us to Guiness416 suggestion. Is an hour of sleep worth an hour at the gym? There have been numerous studies about the benefits of both. I think the answer depends a bit on how much sleep you are getting and how much time in the gym you are spending. If you spend 3 hours in the gym, the value of an extra hour of sleep is huge. If you only sleep 5-6 hours a night, giving that up for an hour at the gym may not be a smart idea. I typically get 6.5-7 hours a night. I could probably do less in the short term, but I don’t think it’s a smart long term plan. I’m always hesitant to do short-term fixes.

I think I have found a solution for myself. My condo complex has a small gym with just the minimum necessary to get a good work out in. I can walk to it in about 3 minutes. From there I can do a circuit training targeting the lower half of my body for one exercise and then my upper half for another. I believe this could approximate a full workout in as little as 20 minutes. Round trip, we might be talking about a half hour out of my day. I think I can create this time by doing a little less of the extra promotion that I do for Lazy Man and Money. I think I could work to minimize the impact of that lost half hour. Best yet, I can do it without losing more of my precious sleep.

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