Those who are “weekend warriors” and start exercising in just a few days still have the same benefits as those who exercise daily, a new study has found.
The study — published Sept. 26 in the journal Circulation — analyzed nearly 90,000 people in the United Kingdom who wore an accelerometer for a week to track their exercise patterns.
Those who did less than 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity per week were classified as inactive. Regular exercisers completed 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity spread evenly throughout the week. Weekend warriors did the same, but their 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity were crammed into just one or two days.
The World Health Organization recommends “at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity per week.”
Researchers found that in the years after wearing the monitor, weekend warriors had a lower risk of 264 medical conditions compared to those classified as inactive. Regular exercisers had similar results. The strongest association was for cardiometabolic conditions, including hypertension, diabetes, obesity, and sleep apnea.
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Two people are running (photo).
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“I think this is encouraging,” said study author Dr. Shaan Khurshid, a cardiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, according to The Guardian. “This shows that, in terms of health benefits, it is actually the volume of physical activity that matters, not the pattern. The key is, however you want to get that volume, do it in a way that works for you.”
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“For people looking to incorporate a more active lifestyle, these findings offer encouraging insights,” Dr. Rigved Tadwalkar, a cardiologist at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, Calif., who was not involved in the study, told Medical News Today. .
“While regular and evenly spaced physical activity is still beneficial, the study suggests that even if people find it difficult to exercise daily, they can still achieve health benefits by exercising just a few days a week,” Tadwalkar added.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education