How to recover hours of sleep?

The stress of day to day, the lack of time, work, leisure and changing schedules often mean that many people do not sleep enough. enough to recover, something that has repercussions at the level of health, and it is also frequent that they do not do so on a regular basis.

Some of these people try to reduce or eliminate the negative effects of getting little sleep on a regular basis by recovering hours of sleep. But, how to recover hours of sleep? Is this possible? Let's see it throughout this article.

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the importance of sleep

Sleeping is a physiological process of great importance that we carry out not only as human beings, but also in many animals. During this process, despite the fact that our brain does not stop working, our brain activity and the waves it produces change, in such a way that the managing body of our organism is allowed to reduce the use of energy and begin a process of self repair.

It is a vital phenomenon, in a literal sense:

sleep deprivation can trigger serious repercussions and if sustained for too long it can lead to death.

Sleep is an active and highly structured process in which sleep is repeated on a regular basis. cycles made up of different phases, in each of which different types of activity occur cerebral.

Specifically, we are going through four phases of non-REM sleep (of which the first two correspond to drowsiness and sleep). light and the last two would correspond to slow and deep wave sleep, in which rest occurs) and one of REM sleep (in the that the brain has an activity similar to that of wakefulness and it is believed that it has to do with the processing of information obtained during the day).

This process is therefore something fundamental, and carrying it out in a reduced or insufficient manner causes that our organism is not able to regenerate completely, in such a way that different types of consequences can appear.

Among the different consequences we can find fatigue, concentration and memory problems, decreased insulin sensitivity, obesity and risk of diabetes, arterial hypertension, increased risk of cardiovascular problems and even a significant reduction in life expectancy or an increased probability of death early. On the other hand, excessive sleep is not good either, since it can also generate many of the problems described above.

So that, It is convenient to have a sleep schedule of between seven and eight hours, being less than six and more than nine something harmful.

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Catching up on sleep… is it possible?

Often people who sleep poorly wonder how it is possible to recover the hours of sleep. Although later we are going to indicate some useful practices to improve our level of energy and rest, we must take into account Keep in mind that although it seems to us that after sleeping too much after having slept little for a while, it may seem that we are we wake up energetic and fully refreshed actually science shows that the consequences of sleep deprivation are keep.

It is not that sleeping more is useless, but it is true that sleep cures allow partial recovery: part of the lost sleep is not recovered.

Evidence of persistent consequences

Most of the studies carried out seem to show that in fact we do not fully recover those hours of sleep that we have lost. Or at least, that its consequences remain.

In people who have slept five or fewer hours a day during the week, whether or not they increase their hours of sleep as a way of trying to recover energy, it has been observed how the need for energy consumption and metabolism are altered. Said alteration facilitates, among other things, the appearance of obesity.

Linked to this, a greater propensity to type 2 diabetes has also been detected, since insulin sensitivity is also reduced in the body.

It has also been observed that energy levels remain lower than usual after the first few hours, as well as increased levels of sleepiness and physical and mental fatigue. Our reflexes remain reduced, as well as our ability to concentrate in a sustained manner, somewhat for Another logical side if we think that we are talking about five days a week sleeping little and only two sleeping more.

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Yes, there are some improvements

Now, it is true that the data shows that people who do not sleep for a long time as an attempt to recover hours see more altered their insulin sensitivity throughout the body while in those who do recover sensitivity decreases in more areas specific.

Furthermore, a recent study published in Journal of Sleep Research seems to indicate that while it may not eliminate all the adverse effects of little sleep, catching up on sleep at the weekend does that the life expectancy of people who resort to this practice equals over time with those who sleep seven hours a day.

This is especially relevant if compared with people who sleep less than five hours a day and then do not recover sleep: the risk of premature mortality increases dramatically. Of course, the data reflect that the risk does not increase only if the sleep during the weekend is prolonged.

In addition, weekend recoveries seem to help control dysregulations that lack of sleep generates at the level of blood pressure in adults, as well as reducing the risk of obesity in children (compared to the risk if recovery is not attempted with a prolonged period of dream).

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How to seek a restful sleep and how to try to recover hours

Both sleeping little and sleeping too much can be bad, but as a general rule the first case is much more common and prevalent. We sleep little for many reasons, often due to external causes such as working hours or internal such as anxiety. And it is common for this pattern to repeat itself regularly, leaving us exhausted. How to recover these lost hours of sleep or at least get rid of part of the fatigue that it entails?

1. Make room for it in your sleep schedule

We have already seen that sleep is necessary. Regardless of everything we have to do or want to take advantage of the time, the first step is to plan a space where we can rest. It is recommended to do it daily, so that we have a healthy routine.

If we do not sleep well at night, it is advisable to eliminate possible daytime naps. However, if sleep is insufficient at night, regardless of whether we take naps or not, and even if naps are not the best idea to have a quality sleep, they can help us recover some energy like something punctual.

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2. Keep a sleep log

Another useful strategy is to keep track of the time we sleep. We are not talking about going to bed with a timer, but about count the approximate time we have slept and, if possible, the stimuli or causes that we believe may have made it difficult to keep a normal schedule. This also serves to reflect on how to improve our schedules.

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3. If you sleep little on a daily basis, take advantage of the holidays

If for various reasons it is not possible to sleep regularly, a useful practice may be to dedicate weekends and holidays to recover energy. As we have seen previously, the hours of sleep do not fully recover and some of the difficulties will remain, but they do allow for a partial recovery.

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3. No to caffeine and other stimulants

Drinking coffee, tea, energy drinks and other substances are common practices that we usually use to stay energetic. It is a useful strategy in this regard, especially if it occurs with adequate sleep schedules or in which we have sporadically slept less than normal.

However, if sleep difficulties are common, the consumption of these substances is not recommended.

Although in the morning it can go well to clear us, we should avoid them at least during the afternoon, so that fatigue can lead us to sleep naturally. This is especially relevant if the causes of the lack of sleep are internal, such as anxiety, since the consumption of stimulants in this case enhances nervous activation.

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4. Prepare the environment before sleeping

It is necessary to take into account that there are many stimuli that can cause us problems to sleep in a restful way and that make it difficult to compensate for lost sleep. In this sense, we must bear in mind that we must limit or eliminate the presence of screen lights (computers, mobiles), try to stay in an area with a relatively constant temperature and with enough space to be able to rest comfortably.

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5. the bed to sleep

Another problem that can make sleeping difficult is the fact that we use our bed regularly for other activities and even to work or study. Thus, our body will not associate bed with rest but with activity, something that will make it difficult to fall asleep and recover lost hours. Let's reserve the bed to sleep, or at most to maintain relations.

6. Exercise, but not before bed

Another strategy that can help us recover hours of sleep is to get tired by exercising. However, we should limit exercise as the time to go to bed approaches: the practice of exercise generates an activation of the organism that will make it difficult to sleep if we do it before going to bed.

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7. If you see that you do not fall asleep, do not stay in bed

Often people with insomnia and other sleep problems tend to stay in bed even if they can't fall asleep. The truth is that the best thing to do if this does not work is to get up and air out a bit, avoiding stimuli such as mobile phones and televisions.

If necessary we can do some simple and automatic activity, but that is not something stimulating, physically demanding or fun or it could clear us.

8. relaxation techniques

It may be useful to practice relaxation techniques, especially if one of the causes of lack of sleep is anxiety.

Some of the simplest and most basic are breathing. To give an example: breathe in through the nose for five seconds, filling the stomach before the lungs, hold for five seconds and then exhale through your mouth emptying your stomach and lungs for another five. Repeating this for three minutes can help you relax, which can make it easier to fall asleep.

There are also many other variants, but they usually require prior training. You can perform practices that work with muscle tension and strain, such as Jacobson's progressive muscle relaxation.