Thread: Exercising while sleeping?

I'd like to know if I can train something in a dream and increase this skill in real life.
For exemple:

1. Theorical exercices (doing math in a dream, for exemple)
2. Physical or mechanical exercices (practice a sport or train a musical instrument)
3. Gym exercices (I know this one looks funny and unlikely, but it would be cool if we could just sleep and wake up brawny)

Thanks for the attention~

Well, since you aren't moving your body, it won't help you with muscles and the like, but reactions, maths and other school subjects it can help with.

Well your brain is a muscle so you can exercise that I know.

There was a study with a *spear thrower* which would exercise in the sleep and they noticed improvement

Hm, so it may work. I truly didn't expect to get brawny or gain muscles, it's pretty unlikely. But improve skills such as coordination or reflex may be possible!

Sleep Paralysis prevents you from physically acting out your movements during sleep. This means two things: (1) You can't fatigue your muscle as if in a gym, nor give it progressive resistance. And (2), given that SP prevents movement, then it follows that your movements during dreams are sending and receiving signals from the motor cortex. That is, the motor cortex interprets dream movement as real movement.

So theoretically speaking, practising a particular movement when asleep should result in the formation or refinement of muscle memory as if you were awake. However, this also means that bad practice during sleep can be detrimental to progression.

Hm, it made me think of another question: if we are not using our muscles, that means we will never get tired?

Originally Posted by NeoDreamer

Hm, it made me think of another question: if we are not using our muscles, that means we will never get tired?

I cant say for sure about being physically exhausted from dreaming, my dream body has felt physically exhausted while i was still in the dream. However there have been times that i have awakened to feeling Emotionally or Mentally exhausted, Which in turn makes me feel physically exhausted because it puts strain on my body. So perhaps indirectly it is possible?

I read somewhere that normal REM sleep if often a way for the brain to go over the things it has learned during the day — this is why a decent sleeping pattern and lots of REM sleep is crucial for students and adolescents — so you're already technically doing that without becoming lucid.

in dreams, I never really get tired so I guess you don't.

I wouldn't suggest maths, you'll probably fail in the dream but think you did well until you wake up. As for instruments, while people say its possible, I doubt that my mind could perfectly replicate a piano keyboard and accurate tone for each key, so I wouldn't expect that is possible either. People like to say "anything is possible in a dream" but frankly you should understand your limits.

It is indeed possible to create or refine muscle-memory in dreams, but I think something like math is too complex to be faithfully reproduced in the dream world, unless you live and breathe it.

Originally Posted by Loaf

I doubt that my mind could perfectly replicate a piano keyboard and accurate tone for each key, so I wouldn't expect that is possible either.

True, but I don't mean to play music. I just want to do exercices, train speed and coordination (muscle memory, I guess).
I agree that it would be pretty hard to accurate each note, and probably if you played the same note twice, it would sound different. Unless you have an absolute pitch.

Originally Posted by Pheenix

but I think something like math is too complex to be faithfully reproduced in the dream world, unless you live and breathe it.

Originally Posted by Loaf

I wouldn't suggest maths, you'll probably fail in the dream but think you did well until you wake up.

Yeah, we can't even read clearly in dreams, I guess do maths is ask too much.

If I sit in front of a piano, in waking life, and pretend to touch each key I can mentally hear each note. Through simple memory association and countless hours of practice, it makes sense that this would arise. How this translates into the dream world is not a matter of possibility - as mentally in waking life I could do it. It's definitely possible. However, in the dreamworld, accuracy is seemingly never the same as waking life (most likely because it's largely controlled by your ever-changing unconscious desires and expectations).

I have tried this in a WILD before on my house piano, and the notes individually were seemingly accurate to waking life. However, when I played a tune I unconsciously expected to play it perfectly (this expectation affects the accuracy) - Hence I can press any key at this point, and I will hear the tune perfectly.

But MrTransitory, one of the questions is if its possible to practice and learn such a instrument in the dream world, if you have already learned it to the extent your memory of it is that accurate than you probably don't really need to practice in dreams anyway.

I was thinking the exact same thing. To attain the level of experience needed to successfully interpret musical keys to the dream world perfectly would mean countless of hours of practice in real life. In actuality, defeating the purpose of refining ability in an LD in the first place.

Also, as MrTransitory said, LDing inherently relies on expectation. This would unmistakably affect your progression of skill and obviously your sense of achievement.

Reading is already a pain for most people, the maths you do in the dream would probably be questionable. Although, I've heard of people who have calculated mathematical problems in their dreams and then awoken to find that their 'dream answer' was correct. Anyone had any experience with this?

I can't help but think there must be a beneficial side to the "you will expect it to sound right" dilemma. That should untie some mental knots. But muscle-knots, definitely not.

Well, it certainly gives you insight into yourself. If you play the tune perfectly without error due to expectations, then you are seemingly confident in your abilities and evidently optimistic.

Indeed, nobodies expectation is that they will play wrong. Nobody tries to hit a wrong note, you only realize after you've played it. But in the dream, you'd just assume it was correct regardless if your dream was able to simulate a realistic piano.

Originally Posted by Loaf

Indeed, nobodies expectation is that they will play wrong. Nobody tries to hit a wrong note, you only realize after you've played it. But in the dream, you'd just assume it was correct regardless if your dream was able to simulate a realistic piano.

Not consciously, no. But if you're not confident in your abilities, then you will tend to think, unconsciously, that you'll not do well. It's like walking along a tight rope, without confidence, you're likely to fall because you feel you will. You don't want to fall (consciously), but your lack of confidence (out of conscious control) is blatantly present and stronger.

I mean, there are some tunes that I am confident I can play, and there are some that I'm not. My skill is not objectively any different, but my confidence changes it.

Originally Posted by MrTransitory

Not consciously, no. But if you're not confident in your abilities, then you will tend to think, unconsciously, that you'll not do well. It's like walking along a tight rope, without confidence, you're likely to fall because you feel you will. You don't want to fall (consciously), but your lack of confidence (out of conscious control) is blatantly present and stronger.

I mean, there are some tunes that I am confident I can play, and there are some that I'm not. My skill is not objectively any different, but my confidence changes it.

Well, I don't agree with that from a dream perspective. But if that was true, you'd probably end up uncontrollably playing more wrong notes that you actually would in reality, which still means the simulation of the piano is useless. Dreams are a lot simpler than people like to think.

Originally Posted by Loaf

Well, I don't agree with that from a dream perspective. But if that was true, you'd probably end up uncontrollably playing more wrong notes that you actually would in reality, which still means the simulation of the piano is useless. Dreams are a lot simpler than people like to think.

Yep, the simulation of the piano is certainly useless. When you say if that was true, are you implying that within lucid dreams the unconscious is far more in control than in waking reality? I guess through that reasoning, then it follows as you said: more errors during dreams than irl.

Yikes. I hate to revive a 2 1/2 year old thread, but this is just the topic I googled for. If I found it, I’m sure others have, too.
About a month ago, after not exercising for 3 months, I woke up with a sore trunk, legs, arms and shoulders. I’m familiar with the feeling and I know it’s from a very hard workout. I retraced my activities from the previous 2 days and it’s clear that this happened in my sleep. It wasn’t a lucid dream and I don’t remember doing it. After some Google searches I’ve found very little about this, but enough to know it has happened to a few people, and more than once for some. I’d like to find a way to force myself to do it on a regular basis.
Also, for sleep paralysis, I understand that it’s a real, protective measure, but it doesn’t happen all the time we’re sleeping or dreaming. People talk in their sleep, toss and turn, and even walk.

I always fail at playing dream instruments Loaf, so yeah, some people expect to do it wrongly <.<
I can also do maths and reading in dreams, most of the times use it for studying purposes only though.

Originally Posted by Walms

I always fail at playing dream instruments Loaf, so yeah, some people expect to do it wrongly <.<
I can also do maths and reading in dreams, most of the times use it for studying purposes only though.

Practicing an instrument is not comparable to the dream scenario in which you have no knowledge of instruments or have zero confidence in your ability.