By John Salak –
Weekend warriors, those people who try to catch up on exercise on Saturdays and Sundays, often get a bad rap. They are seen by some as not dedicated; fighting a losing battle by trying to make up for workouts in two days that should be spread out over seven; and putting themselves at unnecessary risk of injury. These critics may just need to chill—condensed workouts battle disease just as effectively as more frequent exercise, offering substantial health benefits even in a shorter timeframe.
There is growing evidence that weekend warriors who put in 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous exercise on Saturdays and Sundays are doing just fine in terms of physical fitness and overall health.
The support for these focused exercise plans has been growing for several years as several studies have underscored the benefits of the approach. One report published in the American Medical Association journal specifically found that moderate to vigorous activity, concentrated during one or two days a week, offers similar cardiovascular benefits to exercise spread throughout the week. This study tracked 90,000 participants along a list of exercises such as running, biking, playing soccer or basketball or even taking a brisk walk.
A new study out of Massachusetts General Hospital went even further in underscoring the value of the weekend warrior approach. It found this pattern is associated with a lower risk of developing 264 future diseases. It is also just as effective at decreasing risk as more evenly distributed exercise activity, the researchers reported.
It is difficult to assess just how many people focus their workouts on the weekends compared to spreading it out. But some surveys indicate that work, family and social pressures are increasingly forcing individuals to work out just on weekends—and that’s okay.
“Physical activity is known to affect the risk of many diseases,” said co-senior author Shaan Khurshid, MD, MPH, a faculty member at Massachusetts General. “Here, we show the potential benefits of weekend warrior activity for risk not only of cardiovascular diseases, as we’ve shown in the past, but also future diseases spanning the whole spectrum, ranging from conditions like chronic kidney disease to mood disorders and beyond.”
The hospital’s research team followed recommended guidelines of at least 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per week for overall health whether that was spread out over seven days or condensed into two. The team specifically analyzed information from individuals in the prospective UK Biobank study who wore wrist accelerometers that recorded their total physical activity and time spent at different exercise intensities over one week. Participants’ activity patterns were categorized as weekend warrior, regular or inactive.
The research team then looked for associations between physical activity patterns and the incidence of 678 conditions across 16 types of diseases, including mental health, digestive, neurological and other categories.
The study revealed that weekend warriors and regular physical activity patterns were each associated with substantially lower risks of over 200 diseases compared with inactivity.
Associations were strongest for cardiometabolic conditions such as hypertension, registering 23 and 28 percent lower risks respectively. The risk of developing diabetes was also significantly lower, 43 percent for weekend warriors and 46 percent for those who work out more regularly.
“Our findings were consistent across many different definitions of weekend warrior activity, as well as other thresholds used to categorize people as active,” said Khurshid.
Ultimately, physical activity is beneficial for lowering the risk of future diseases, whether the activity is focused on a relatively short period or spread out.
“Because there appear to be similar benefits for weekend warrior versus regular activity, it may be the total volume of activity, rather than the pattern, that matters most,” said Khurshid. “Future interventions testing the effectiveness of concentrated activity to improve public health are warranted, and patients should be encouraged to engage in guideline-adherent physical activity using any pattern that may work best for them.”
