My Secret Weapon, and Updates to My System

by SteelSovereignty

In a previous post I hinted at a “secret weapon” that I was planning on using, and I wasn’t lying! To be fair, before I start this post I should say that “while I HAVE used this in the past, it has never been in this context”. I’ve never used it for polyphasic sleeping before.

My secret weapon is SPIKE! SPIKE is a supplement manufactured by a company called Biotest. SPIKE is designed as a supplement to be used in Bodybuilding to increase the “mind-muscle connection” and to boost the Central Nervous System. You can also buy SPIKE in an energy drink format, however it is much more expensive and contains modified ingredients.

I bought SPIKE about a year ago to try it out, since it just sounded too awesome. And I’d have to say it WAS just too awesome. basically, in layman’s terms, SPIKE gives you tons of energy but it also makes you ridiculously focused. An interesting side-effect (maybe it was intended, I don’t know) was that for the 6 hours it takes effect I never feel tired (!) . I tested this theory during an all night nerd session called a LAN party, I took a SPIKE at midnight and felt amazing all night, no tiredness at all (this is heavily contrasted to how tired I feel normally during an all nighter). One other note I would like to make is that I find SPIKE has very little or no crash at all.

So I’m sure you can see how this could be extremely beneficial to Polyphasic sleeping. To me, most of adaptation is fairly bearable except for a window of about 4-6 hours around 3:00 AM. I’ve never tried this in context with Polyphasic sleeping before, but from my past experiences with SPIKE I feel pretty confident that I can just pop a SPIKE at around 1:00 or 2:00 when I can feel a bad night coming and enjoy an easy night without suffering.

People who are observant and studious will have noticed that SPIKE contains caffeine, and many people have noted that caffeine during an adaptation period is a “big no-no”. However, in my past experiences with SPIKE I have felt quite the opposite, if I ever needed to pass out on SPIKE I’ve had no trouble doing so. This MAY be related to the fact that I never have a problem falling asleep pretty much ever though, so you may have different experiences.

If I have now convinced you to try SPIKE please know that I am no scientist and none of my claims can be substantiated. As well, a lot of my friends have tried SPIKE and we have found that it is more effective for some (like me) than it is for others (some have found it completely ineffective). On the other hand, I have taken some time to research the main ingredients in SPIKE and most of them act a lot like a vitamin, something that fills a deficiency that the body naturally has. The one ingredient that you may be interested in is “yohimbine HCL”, this adds the “dietary supplement” part to SPIKE and makes it work differently for females than it does for males. SPIKE also says you may not want to take it if you are under 18 (likely due to the yohimbine), however I feel this is just cautionary, I (perhaps somewhat haphazardly) have been taking it since 17 and have had no adverse effects.

In conclusion, me and my friends fucking love SPIKE, and I will be incorporating it into my polyphasic schedule, I’ll inform you of the results.

One other thing I would like to share is a small update in my sleeping “setup”. Earlier in this essay I noted that most of the adaptation was bearable aside from that 4-6 hour period, but it also becomes extremely difficult immediately after waking from naps. This is caused by being interrupted in deep sleep cycles.

In my logs I’ve reported my naps frequently being splintered into several 10 or 15 minute periods, and I believe that this may be because my natural rhythm does not like to be 20 minutes in length. This is supported by the fact that I was able to adjust to Dymaxion which most people find difficult because they feel 30 minute naps are inconsistent with their sleeping rhythm.

I plan on fixing this by following an alarm system similar to what this guy is describing (he even mentions polyphasic sleeping briefly). However, instead of 2 alarm clocks, I plan on incorporating the slight differences in a new sleeping mp3. I will make the minimum time to wake up around 15 minutes, and the max around 30.

In (real) conclusion, after those first 5 days I feel I have been able to pin-point my weaknesses, and after some light research I will now be able to improve on them to create a much easier and bearable adaptation period.