Sleep is universally regarded as essential for health, with most experts recommending 6–8 hours of nightly rest for optimal well-being and longevity. However, Japanese bodybuilder and entrepreneur Daisuke Hori challenges this conventional wisdom. Hori claims that for the past 12 years, he has thrived on just 30 minutes of sleep per day, citing this extreme routine as the key to doubling his productivity and life expectancy. His philosophy prioritizes sleep quality over quantity, suggesting that deep, restorative rest, even in brief intervals, can be more beneficial than longer but less effective sleep.
Hori argues that people in high-focus professions, such as doctors and firefighters, often operate on minimal sleep yet maintain efficiency, emphasizing that the focus should be on how well one sleeps rather than how long. His advice for staving off fatigue includes staying physically active and drinking coffee before meals, strategies that have allowed him to minimize sleep without sacrificing energy or alertness. Hori’s lifestyle was documented by the Japanese television program Will You Go With Me?, where viewers saw him function on as little as 26 minutes of sleep, waking naturally and energized.
As the founder of the Japan Short Sleepers Training Association, Hori has trained over 2,100 people in this method, including a student who successfully reduced her sleep from eight hours to 90 minutes per night without any apparent negative effects on her skin or mental health. Despite these anecdotal success stories, Hori’s regimen has raised eyebrows among medical professionals and sleep experts. Research consistently links chronic sleep deprivation to a variety of health problems, from impaired cognitive function to weakened immunity.
Scientific evidence suggests that inadequate sleep can lead to nervous system issues, impeding the brain’s ability to retain new information, impairing coordination, and heightening the risk of accidents. Sleep is also critical for immune system function, helping to produce infection-fighting agents like antibodies. Without sufficient rest, the body’s ability to fend off illness diminishes. Furthermore, sleep influences hormone levels that control hunger, and poor sleep has been linked to weight gain, gastrointestinal problems, and insulin resistance, contributing to heart disease and diabetes.
Though Hori’s claims of ultra-short sleep may sound appealing to those seeking to maximize productivity, the long-term consequences of such a lifestyle remain largely untested, and the prevailing medical consensus strongly favors sufficient, quality sleep for sustaining health.
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