I love to sleep in on the weekends (when Tabs lets me), and when I get a few extra hours of shuteye, I feel like a brand new girl!
But a recent study published in the journal Sleep suggests that getting a little extra rest on one of the weekend days, while helpful, may not fully make up for a week of inadequate sleep.
Behavioral, subjective and physiological measures of alertness improved significantly after a night of recovery sleep, with larger doses of sleep producing greater gains. Yet some neurobehavioral deficits continued to linger after the maximum recovery dose of 10 hours in bed, during which participants slept for an average of about nine hours. The study suggests that complete recovery from sustained sleep restriction may require even more sleep during one night or multiple nights of extended sleep. –source
The body’s circadian rhythm will probably prevent a lot of people from even getting much more than 8-10 hours in one fell swoop. A better recipe for catching up on sleep may be to shoot for an extra hour on both days of the weekend, as opposed to two extra hours just once.
Wha? More sleep is better than less? I know — it may not be particularly groundbreaking, but the research shows that recovery from a bout of bad sleep isn’t as simple as previously thought.
The effects of sleep depravation can be dramatic, so try to get some extra shuteye as often as you can. Not getting enough doesn’t just darken under-eye circles (GAH!), it also dramatically impairs alertness, attention span, and can even increase your risk of heart disease.
Zzzzz…
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Vonvon says
August 7th, 2010 at 7:16 pmI’ll sleep whenever I get the chance. It may not pay back all my sleep debt but any sleep is better than no sleep! 🙂
Vonvon recently posted … EOTD-FOTD- Greens With MAC Humid & Shimmermoss Eyeshadows
Solé says
August 7th, 2010 at 7:26 pmI haven’t been able to get more than five consecutive hours of sleep since I became pregnant. I take naps, but I feel like it doesn’t make up for it, since I’m not taking a three hour nap every day. Maybe I’ll start sleeping again when my baby is 25. :-\
Nina says
August 7th, 2010 at 8:40 pmI never thought id say this but I <3333 sleep. My love affair with sleep started when I started to have to get up at 515 am everyday to beat the traffic and get to work with my sanity intact.
Now whenever I can, I sleep. Or nap. Or both! 🙂
Vanessa H says
August 7th, 2010 at 8:40 pmI averages 6-7 hours on a good week :-). My family is so loud though, sleeping in on weekends is next to impossible!
Vanessa H recently posted … Copper Eyes
Amber says
August 7th, 2010 at 10:05 pmWe are chronically sleep-deprived and lose half our weekend to catching up on sleep, but it feels sooo good to sleep late. I almost always take a nap between getting home from work and starting my evening workout on M/W/F (on Tues/Thurs I go straight to spinning, so no nap — boo!).
Amber recently posted … Doughnut muffins
Carolina says
August 8th, 2010 at 7:55 amFunny I read this today. It’s my first week at work, and I guess am feeling it cause just into today I slept for 16 hours like it was nothing. It’s ridiculous…and I missed a whole free day!
Darn it.
Kristin says
August 8th, 2010 at 1:43 pmYour cat is so sweet!
Kristin recently posted … AVSTEMNING- Sminkelooker juli!
Dao says
August 8th, 2010 at 2:09 pmI looked at the preview in my Blogger dashboard and I was like, “Belly, what are you doing here?” Srsly, Tabs and Belly do look alike. Does Tabs snore like an old man when he sleeps, too?
Dao recently posted … Belly at Large- Nicknames
Kim says
August 9th, 2010 at 5:54 amI’m totally on board with sleeping in on the weekends, even though I try to get 8 hours every week night. I’m one of those people who could sleep all day and all night (if not for the guilt… and the kids!). 🙂