It's long been known that under or over sleeping isn't good for you. Accepted medicine up to now has suggested that you can't really "make up" for sleep. In other words, the negative impact to your body would be done.
The latest study from Stockholm University published in the medical journal Sleep, however, turns that mindset on its head. At least for those who struggle getting enough sleep during the week.
The new research shows that while there's no way to compensate for the loss of sleep in any given day, your longer-term health can benefit from sleeping in when you have opportunities to do so. For the first time in credible medical research average sleep determined longer term well-being. Currently research demonstrates, regardless of age, that if you sleep under 5 hours a night or over 8 hours it's unhealthy. With this latest info in hand you could potentially "make up" sleep on the weekend and at least potentially improve your longer-term health. You'd still be tired during the week but your body would at least have an opportunity to do some of the restorative stuff it needs to do given the opportunity.
What's interesting is that this is something that I've been tracking on my FitBit. According to the device my optimal level of sleep is about 7 hours and 10 minutes per night. While I'm in bed long enough to get that sleep during the week, it's never happened yet as I average spending about an hour during a given night not sleeping. However, In an effort to attempt to improve my sleep average I've forced myself to sleep in on the weekend. Here's the result:
5 hours and 58 minutes of sleep during the week but around 8 hours of sleep on the weekend to net an average of around 6 hours and 43 minutes per week.
Still nearly about a half hour short of ideal but far better than the 6 hour and 10 minute average prior to my personal effort to improve my sleep average. Importantly, I have noticed a difference as I'm often feeling rested by Sunday (which never really happened outside of vacation previously). So, whether it's a Fitbit or like device that helps you, or if you're always feeling tired, go ahead and try to sleep in guilt free when you can and see if you notice a difference. The latest science & my experience suggests you will & you'll be healthier for it.