
While the MET values allow us to compare activities, they don't measure energy directly. What exactly is 1 MET, then? It is defined as the ratio of energy spent per unit time during a specific physical activity to a reference value of 3.5 ml O₂/(kg For example, sleeping has a value of 1 MET while running has a MET of 7.5, so much higher. You can check that by looking at the different MET values for the exercises included in this calorie calculator. The MET value of an exercise is higher the more energy an activity requires. This measure tells you how many calories you burn per hour of activity, per one kilogram of body weight. This energy expenditure is typically expressed in MET – the metabolic equivalent of a task. The number of calories burned walking is smaller than running or cycling and, e.g., burpees burn even more calories. The energy is consumed in activities such as pumping blood through our system, processing food in our digestive system, and even thinking (the brain burns about 20% of our daily calories).īut when we talk about consuming calories, we tend to think more about the conscious act of exercising and expending extra energy compared to the normal or basal metabolic levels.Īs you may have guessed, every exercise needs a different amount of energy. That includes those times when we are apparently doing "nothing" since, fortunately for us, our body is still functioning and consuming energy. If you need, you can always set a secondary, appropriately loud alarm for a couple minutes later to make sure you don't oversleep.Since calories are, effectively, energy, any time energy is used or transformed in our body, we consume calories. Since you'll be sleeping lightly, you can use gentle alarms (like a wake up lamp or quiet, soft music) to wake up naturally. You can use it in two ways: if you're going to sleep now, you can calculate the optimal time to wake up if on the other hand you have to get up at a specific hour, it will tell you when is the next window for you to get to bed.
#If i go to sleep now calculator full#
The sleep calculator above helps you pick the best moment to go to sleep and the time to wake up so that the time between them allows for several full 90 minute sleep cycles. The best option is to wake up when we naturally drift to the lighter sleep phases and our brain is on the brink of consciousness, so the path to wakefulness is much shorter. We can feel unrested, groggy and cranky for a good part of the day. When the alarm clock wakes us up suddenly from deep sleep or interrupts the REM phase, our body doesn't appreciate it. Usually each cycle takes about 90 minutes. Interestingly enough, while your brain waves frequency is much higher than it was when you were in the deep sleep phase, it's even harder to wake you up.Īfter some time in the dreaming REM phase you fall back into deeper sleep and the cycle repeats.

Your body is more or less paralysed, but your eyes move rapidly. REM stands for Rapid Eye Movement and describes the dreaming phase of your sleep. This is when the magic happens and you switch from NREM to REM sleep.

Your brain doesn't stay in the deep sleep for long - within 90 minutes it speeds up back to theta and then to alpha waves. This means it's more difficult to wake up someone who's in the Slow Wave Sleep. in stage 3 of NREM, your brain oscillates much slower and is less perceptible to stimuli like light or sound. These are three NREM (Non-REM) stages of sleep. Brain waves frequency goes down from what we call alpha (8–13 Hz) to theta (4–8 Hz) and finally delta (1–4 Hz) frequency bands.


Well, while this works for your battery powered electronics, humans have a different, more complicated system in place.Īs soon as you fall asleep, your consciousness drifts away and your brain slows down. It would seem that sleeping is a simple activity - you power down, regenerate over several hours and wake up fully recharged.
