Sleeping In on Weekends Can Lower High Blood Pressure Risk, Study Says

We’ve long been told that going to bed and waking up at the same time daily—yes, even on weekends—is a crucial habit for better health. However, a new study points at a possible loophole that may permit you to snuggle under the covers a little longer on your day off.

Meet the Experts: Nawon Lee, study author and an associate professor in the division of cardiology at Korea University College of Medicine; and Bharat Sangani, M.D., a cardiologist with practices in Gulfport, MS, and Dallas.

The preliminary research, which was presented at the European Society of Cardiology’s annual meeting, found that people who logged more shuteye on weekends were less likely to have hypertension than those who kept a more consistent—yet sometimes inadequate—sleep schedule. And what’s more, there seems to be an exact amount of weekend sleep-in time that had the greatest effect.

So, does this mean you can shut off your alarm when the weekend rolls around? Below, an author of the study and a cardiologist explain how the two are connected—and how far back you can safely push your alarm.

What did the study find?

Researchers looked at the health data of nearly 41,000 Korean adults from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which included information from 2016 to 2023. They analyzed how the amount of sleep differed on days the participants worked and days they were off, and then compared that to their prevalence of high blood pressure.

They discovered that those who caught up on sleep during the weekends (or off days) were less likely to have hypertension. “Around 1.44 hours of additional sleep on non-working days was associated with approximately 9% lower odds of hypertension,” explains Nawon Lee, study author and an associate professor in the division of cardiology at Korea University College of Medicine. That breaks down to about 1 hour and 26 minutes of potentially positive sleep-in time, she adds.

What’s more, the link was particularly strong among physically inactive participants, which supports what we already know about exercise’s positive effects on blood pressure.

How extra weekend sleep may improve hypertension

“Sleep gives the cardiovascular system an opportunity to recover,” explains Bharat Sangani, M.D., a cardiologist with practices in Gulfport, Mississippi and Dallas. “During normal, restful sleep, blood pressure and heart rate generally fall.” If you don’t get enough shuteye, or your sleep is disrupted, your body’s system remains more active, which messes with that beneficial nightly drop.

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Continually skimping on sleep over the long term can also contribute to other conditions that hurt our health and make blood pressure harder to control, such as weight gain and metabolic disease, Dr. Sangani says. “Sleep deserves the same attention we give diet and exercise,” he adds.

As for how off-day sleep, in particular, may help the body regulate, more research is needed, notes Lee.

“One potential explanation is that additional sleep helps people recover from weekday sleep loss, easing some of the nervous-system activation that can raise blood pressure,” Dr. Sangani explains.

But keep in mind: The study only identified an association between weekend sleep-ins and lower blood pressure—it didn’t determine a cause-and-effect relationship between the two. “People who catch up on sleep may differ in other ways that influence their health,” Dr. Sangani adds.

The bottom line

Lee stresses that the findings should not come across as a recommendation to deliberately restrict sleep during the week and compensate for it on weekends. “Some recovery sleep may help, but we should still work toward adequate sleep throughout the week,” Dr. Sangani adds.

One often-overlooked way to sleep better? Consider talking to your doctor about sleep apnea testing if you regularly snore, wake up gasping, or experience excessive daytime fatigue. “Untreated sleep apnea can contribute to hypertension, and simply spending more hours in bed does not address it,” Dr. Sangani says.

And consider other heart-healthy measures aside from sleep, too. Other ways to maintain healthy blood pressure levels include following a DASH-style eating pattern, reducing sodium, exercising regularly, losing excess weight when needed, and limiting or avoiding alcohol, says Dr. Sangani. “Home blood pressure monitoring and taking prescribed medication consistently are also essential parts of treatment,” he adds. “Healthy habits and medication often work best together.”

So focus on heart-healthy habits during the day and make sure to get enough sleep every night, not just when you don’t have an early alarm set. “Sleep quality matters, as does sleep duration,” says Dr. Sangani. “My takeaway is: Give yourself time to recover after an occasional short night, and make sufficient, regular sleep part of your ongoing blood pressure care.”