There's nothing better than staying in bed on the weekend. So why doesn't my body let me?

TOAll those YouTube videos telling us to wake up and go to sleep at the same time every day so that our sleeping habits are consistent? Lies! Actually, it turns out that sleeping more on the weekends can do wonders for our health. The habit of staying in bed late has been formally vindicated.

At least, that was what was revealed at the annual meeting of the European Society of Cardiology. Scientists from China’s National Centre for Cardiovascular Disease claimed that those who catch up on sleep at weekends could reduce their risk of heart disease by almost a fifth compared with those who don’t. Drawing on a dataset involving 90,000 people in the UK Biobank project, the team used sleep trackers to analyse any links between lying in bed and the disease. Over a 14-year period, they found that those who got more catch-up sleep at weekends were 19 per cent less likely to develop heart disease compared with those who got less sleep.

This is good news for slackers and people like me, i.e. those who have always wanted to be lazy but can't seem to get it right, at least not when it comes to sleep. As an adult, I have fetishized the art of being able to sleep in. Can you imagine the simple pleasure of crawling into bed after a long week, or possibly a long night, and waking up at, say, 11:30, feeling fresh as a daisy because you just got 11 hours of sleep straight?

I resent people who can do this effortlessly. In fact, I'd say they're on par with people who can eat pasta every day without gaining weight or those who've never broken a bone. It's irritating. I haven't been able to sleep in since college, when my weeks consisted of just five contact hours (thanks, English degree) and going out every night with the sole responsibility of consuming as many Jagerbombs as the human body can handle without vomiting. The answer is five, by the way.

Back then, I used to sleep until noon and wake up a little dazed and confused but ultimately well-rested, but only because I'd made up for all the hours I'd spent standing in line for cheese fries and chicken nuggets at 3 a.m. This happened to me as a teenager, too, minus the college food drunks fed me. Even if I went to bed at a reasonable hour, I still managed to muster up the ability to sleep 11, sometimes 12 hours straight every weekend.

Sadly, that’s no longer the case. In my 30s, I’ve grown accustomed to waking up at the same time almost every day: 7:30. That’s generally the time I wake up for work every morning. It’s also the time I naturally get up at the weekend, even if I’ve been out late the night before. It’s immensely frustrating. I wish I could sleep in later, and I envy my friends who can do so and are therefore more resilient to the agonies of hangovers in their thirties. “I feel so rested!” they smugly text me at 1pm after they’ve managed to get through the day one Deliveroo order at a time. Meanwhile, I’m desperately trying to get through the day one Deliveroo order at a time. Is my body broken? Or is it just an unfortunate symptom of ageing that only affects slightly pathetic people like me?

“When we are younger, our sleep, body, and brain are still maturing, so we have a greater need for sleep,” explains Frida Rångtell, PhD, a leading sleep educator and scientific advisor for children’s sleep tracking app Napper. “Adolescence, in particular, is a period of rapid physical, emotional, and intellectual growth. Sleeping in is a way for our body to meet its increased sleep needs during this period of rapid development.”

In addition, we sleep more when we are young because of the natural biological clock we have at that time of life: our “circadian rhythm.” “The particular circadian rhythm of young adults and adolescents naturally predisposes them to stay up later and sleep later,” Rångtell continues.

The fact is that as we age, we need less sleep because our body and brain are no longer developing. But as teenagers, when we are still growing, we need more sleep to facilitate this process, usually between eight and ten hours. A teenager's circadian rhythm also means that our body produces more melatonin, the sleep hormone.

“This is why teenagers can be seen as ‘lazy’ when they sleep in until midday,” explains Dr Lindsay Browning, psychologist and sleep expert at And So to Bed. “However, even if they go to bed late, school will still start at the same time in the morning, meaning they can’t sleep in, resulting in teenagers often not getting enough sleep and suffering from sleep deprivation.”

For teenagers, the act of staying in bed on the weekends is very important. As you approach your twenties, sleep remains important for neurological development, which is why many lazy college students (like me back then) are able to waste most mornings in bed. “The brain continues to develop until about age 25,” adds Dr. Browning. “It is recommended that most young adults in their twenties and thirties get a good seven to nine hours of sleep.”

There are many reasons why late sleepers in their twenties suddenly can’t do so by the time they reach their thirties. The first is that biologically, we don’t typically need as much sleep because we’re fully developed—according to The Sleep Foundation, we only need about seven hours a night. And our circadian rhythms tend to stabilize. “That makes us more likely to wake up earlier and less inclined to sleep in,” Rångtell says. “Lifestyle changes and stress can contribute to disrupted sleep and make it harder to sleep in.”

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Stress is a known sleep disruptor and can come from any area of ​​tension in your life, whether it's your job or your personal relationships. This is due to the impact that cortisol (the hormone the body produces under stress) has on our circadian rhythm. This can mean that your body can't stay asleep for as long, because when cortisol levels are high, your body is on high alert, meaning you may wake up earlier than usual, or during the night, due to anxiety.

This is something I’ve experienced a lot more as I’ve gotten older, and the lifestyle stressors at home, work, and finances have become more serious as the stakes have increased. I can definitely feel the effects of alcohol on my body more strongly in my thirties than when I was younger, too, and one of those effects is what it does to my sleep. Back then, I would fall asleep through the night after drinking. However, now I tend to wake up periodically, even if I’ve only had a glass or two of wine with dinner. And I still wake up at 7:30 a.m., regardless of how little sleep I’ve gotten.

“Our circadian rhythms also become more entrenched as we age, making it harder to change our usual sleep patterns,” says Rångtell. “This can mean we have trouble falling asleep even after a long night. In addition, older people often have lighter, more fragmented sleep, making it harder for them to fall asleep.”

One thing to challenge is the perception that sleeping in is synonymous with laziness – and not just because it could prevent heart disease. “This is especially common in cultures that value early rising and productivity,” Rångtell adds. “It’s important to recognise that sleep patterns and needs are different for each person and are influenced by a host of factors, including age, health and overall lifestyle. Sleeping in is not inherently a lazy attitude, but is often a natural expression of our overall health and our body’s sleep needs.”

In short, if you can sleep in, do it. Your body clearly needs it and it might even help you avoid some serious illnesses. I would do it regularly if I could.