Can you sleep over the weekend?

Time pressure at work, household chores, midnight gatherings… The first thing we sacrifice in such situations is sleep. And we reassure ourselves that we always have Saturday and Sunday for rest. But restoring sleep is not easy. How much sleep do you need to get enough sleep?

It’s all about the genes

Sleeping little and getting enough sleep is a dream for those of us who always lack an extra hour in the day. The example of Napoleon, Leonardo Da Vinci, Nikola Tesla and other geniuses who spent only two or three hours a day on sleep gives a deceptive hope that we can do it too. And how is it in reality? “The amount of sleep that each of us needs is individual,” says somnologist Mikhail Poluektov, “it is in our genes. We can only deviate from it in one direction or another, but in a healthy state we will sleep exactly as much as our body requires. On average, the norm for a person is 7-8 hours of sleep per day. In other words, we cannot deceive our own nature. Lack of sleep does not go unnoticed. Night vigils can turn into nervous and physical exhaustion. To restore sleep, you have to sacrifice your own free time. But even here the result is not guaranteed.

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How effective is restorative sleep?

This issue has recently been taken care of by specialists from the Medical College of the University of Pennsylvania. They selected volunteers for whom they had previously compiled an extremely tight schedule for the week, so that there was no time for proper sleep. At the end of the week, the participants had two days of rest. During the experiment, scientists measured the condition of the participants: the level of drowsiness, concentration, the content of interleukin in the blood (it determines the presence of inflammatory processes), as well as the level of cortisol (stress hormone)*.

It turned out that lack of sleep for six days led to significant impairments in almost all indicators of health and productivity. Two days of restorative sleep brought some improvement, but not complete.

• The level of daytime sleepiness that was observed after 6 days of sleep restriction returned to normal.
• Interleukin levels, which also rose significantly after 6 days of sleep restriction, dropped back to normal levels.
• Cortisol levels did not change. However, after two nights of restorative sleep, cortisol levels dropped below their pre-experiment levels. Since there is a direct relationship between cortisol levels and sleep duration, this result may mean that the participants in the experiment most likely experienced lack of sleep before.
• The level of concentration of attention dropped significantly, but, unlike other indicators, after restorative sleep, it still remained low.

So is it worth relying on the “weekend effect”? We have to admit that it will not work to completely restore sleep in this way. You’ll likely feel better, but your sensory systems take longer to get back to normal. Another important point to keep in mind is that the longer you deny yourself a good night’s rest, the less likely it is that the effect of restorative sleep will manifest itself to the fullest. In addition, more serious changes can occur in your body. “Chronic lack of sleep (less than 5 hours a day) disables the metabolism,” comments Mikhail Poluektov. “Those who sleep an average of five hours or less have an increased risk of obesity and hypertension. This means that the body wears out prematurely.”