United States: If fitting exercise into the workweek feels overwhelming, take solace: squeezing the suggested amount of physical activity into just the weekend still yields considerable health advantages, new research reveals.
An investigation involving nearly 90,000 participants from the UK Biobank initiative found that “weekend warriors,” who crammed a week’s exercise into one or two days, demonstrated a reduced likelihood of developing over 200 illnesses when compared with those who were inactive, according to The Guardian.
Researchers followed these individuals’ health for extended periods after tracking their exercise habits. The findings suggested a broad decrease in the risks associated with various diseases, ranging from hypertension and diabetes to mood imbalances and kidney disorders.
In fact, these intense bursts of weekend physical activity appeared to be just as effective in mitigating future disease risks as regularly spaced sessions throughout the week. This led researchers to conclude that the total volume of exercise seemed to matter more than how frequently one engages in it.
“This is empowering,” said Dr Shaan Khurshid, a cardiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, who spearheaded the study. “It shows that, concerning health benefits, it’s the volume of activity, not the pattern, that holds significance. The essential thing is to find a way to hit that volume in whichever way works best for you.”
The NHS advocates for 150 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity weekly to maintain health, noting that even one or two sessions per week can slash the risk of heart ailments and stroke. As a general guideline, moderate exercise transitions into vigorous when it becomes too challenging to complete sentences while working out.
In their report published in Circulation, the scientists explained how they evaluated the health data of 89,573 UK Biobank volunteers who had worn a wrist device to track their physical exertion patterns for a week, as reported by The Guardian.
Those accumulating at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity were categorized as either “regular exercisers” if their activity was spread throughout the week or “weekend warriors” if it was primarily concentrated in one or two days. Those falling short of 150 minutes per week were classified as inactive.
Years after the participants wore their monitors, the weekend warriors displayed a decreased risk of 264 medical conditions compared to inactive individuals. Similar benefits were observed in regular exercisers.
The most pronounced effects were in reducing cardiometabolic issues. Compared with inactive individuals, weekend warriors and regular exercisers exhibited more than a 20% lower risk of developing hypertension, while the likelihood of diabetes dropped by over 40%.
Earlier studies have also reported these findings. In 2017, physical activity researcher Gary O’Donovan, then at Loughborough University, demonstrated that both weekend warriors and regular exercisers who met physical activity guidelines had lower mortality rates from cancer or cardiovascular complications compared to sedentary individuals. Another 2022 study confirmed these benefits.
One lingering question from these observational studies is whether exercise directly prevents disease or if healthier people, who are less prone to illness, simply tend to exercise more. Both factors are likely at play. In this latest research, the team attempted to account for this by excluding individuals who developed medical conditions within two years of exercise tracking.
Dr Khurshid emphasized the need for more research to explore whether focused bursts of exercise might help individuals meet physical activity goals more conveniently. “For some, this could make it easier to stick with public health guidelines,” he noted, as The Guardian.
Dr Leandro Rezende, a preventive medicine expert at the Federal University of São Paulo, who led a 2022 study on health and exercise, remarked, “These results reinforce that total exercise volume is what matters most, irrespective of how often one works out weekly.”
He added, “This is promising for those striving to meet WHO guidelines but have limited time throughout the week. Nonetheless, for individuals already hitting the guidelines, increasing workout frequency could help boost overall exercise volume, thereby unlocking additional health benefits.”