Napping

Move · Recovery Practices · Movement, Typed Supps

Length is everything — 20 minutes works, 90 minutes works, and in between does not.

Stage by stage

First minutes (Light sleep stages): Sleep begins in lighter stages, which already deliver alertness benefits and are easy to wake from.
Around 30 minutes (Deep sleep arrives): Deep slow-wave sleep typically begins 25 to 35 minutes in — restorative, but difficult to exit cleanly.
On waking (Sleep inertia): Waking from deep sleep causes grogginess and impaired performance for 15 to 30 minutes, sometimes leaving you worse than before.
That night (Late naps cost night sleep): Napping late in the day reduces sleep pressure and can delay or fragment your night sleep.

Muscles trained

Intensity

1 METs (Sleeping).

Time to effect

15–20 min: Alertness benefits appear shortly after waking from a short nap, once inertia clears.

Related supplements

Common myth

“A longer nap is always more restorative.” In reality: Naps around 45 minutes reliably wake you mid-deep-sleep and can leave you performing worse than before — under 25 minutes or a full 90 are the options that work.