Can You Catch Up on Sleep on Weekends? What Studies Show
Can you catch up on sleep on weekends? See what a randomized trial and two large studies found about weekend recovery sleep, and its limits.
The 30-second summary
- Sleeping in on weekends gives you a little rest, but in a 2019 randomized trial it did not prevent weight gain or a drop in insulin sensitivity.
- A Swedish study linked long weekend sleep to no higher death rate, but a larger 2024 study found no such link.
- The trial was small and only included healthy young adults, and the other two studies are observational, so they cannot show cause.
Can you catch up on sleep on weekends? Only partly. Weekend sleep gives your body some rest, but a randomized trial found that metabolic problems came back as soon as people returned to short sleep after the weekend.
This article explains what happened to the people in that trial, what two large studies of tens of thousands of people found, and why the evidence is not enough to settle the question.
The popular claim
«Sleeping in on weekends makes up for not sleeping enough during the week»
Partly true
Weekend sleep gives your body a little rest, but it does not erase the effects of short sleep. In a randomized trial, the problems came back as soon as short sleep returned.
Why do people believe it?
We feel refreshed after a long weekend sleep, so we assume the sleep debt has been paid off. That feeling is natural, but it does not tell us what is happening inside the body.
The idea also got support from a large Swedish study published in 2019 that followed 43,880 people for 13 years. People who slept short on weekdays but long on weekends had a death rate no different from the reference group. The researchers said weekend sleep may "possibly" compensate, but this was an observational study that cannot show cause.
What does the evidence say?
The strongest evidence here is a randomized trial published in Current Biology in 2019 (Depner and colleagues). Healthy young adults were randomly put into three groups, including one given 5-hour sleep opportunities with no weekend recovery (14 people) and one given 5-hour nights followed by unlimited weekend sleep (14 people).
Over the weekend, people slept about 1.1 hours more than at the start and ate less after dinner. But when short sleep returned, their body clock shifted later, after-dinner eating and body weight rose compared with the start, and insulin sensitivity in the whole body, liver and muscles fell by about 9% to 27%. The researchers concluded weekend recovery sleep is not an effective way to prevent these metabolic problems.
In an observational study published in Sleep in 2024, the sleep of 73,513 people was measured with wearable devices and they were followed for 8 years. Weekend catch-up sleep was not linked to death rates, which goes against the Swedish finding.
We rate evidence by study design, not by how exciting the result is. How we rate evidence
The takeaway
Aim for enough sleep on a regular schedule all week, rather than counting on the weekend to make up for it.
But keep in mind
- The randomized trial was small: only 14 people in each of the two short-sleep groups, all healthy young adults. Results may differ in older or sick people.
- The trial measured weight, eating and insulin sensitivity, not long-term disease.
- The Swedish study (2019) and the 2024 study are observational: they show links, not causes, and their results disagree.
FAQ
Can you catch up on sleep on weekends?
Only partly. In a 2019 trial, people slept about 1.1 hours more than usual over the weekend, but once short sleep returned they gained weight and their insulin sensitivity dropped.
Is it good to catch up on sleep on the weekends?
In the same trial, people ate less after dinner during the weekend compared with their short-sleep days. That benefit did not last once short sleep returned.
Is weekend catch-up sleep linked to living longer?
The results are mixed. A Swedish study of 43,880 people found no higher death rate in people who slept short on weekdays and long on weekends, while a 2024 study of 73,513 people found weekend catch-up sleep was not linked to death rates.
Sources
- 1Ad libitum Weekend Recovery Sleep Fails to Prevent Metabolic Dysregulation during a Repeating Pattern of Insufficient Sleep and Weekend Recovery SleepCurrent Biology (Depner et al.) · 2019
- 2Sleep duration and mortality - Does weekend sleep matter?Journal of Sleep Research (Åkerstedt et al.) · 2019
- 3Device-measured weekend catch-up sleep, mortality, and cardiovascular disease incidence in adultsSleep (Oxford Academic) · 2024
These are the original sources; we only explain them. Read them yourself.
Science information for education only; it does not replace medical advice.
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