We are all told over and over how important it is to exercise for good health. But with our busy schedules, find time to train is often easier said than done. For many of us, the weekend is the only time we can hit the gym or go for a run.
UK exercise guidelines suggest that adults should get at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise (or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise) per week for good health. But the debate is heating up around whether or not you can still get the benefits of exercise if you put everything together on a weekend (sometimes called a “weekend warrior” exercise) instead of spreading it out throughout the week. This is what a recent study tried to find out.
They found that the weekend warrior exercise still has many health benefits – with the study showing that people who only exercise two days a week have a lower risk of premature death from any cause, compared to people who do not exercise. But, they also found that spreading your workouts throughout the week was associated with the greatest health benefits.
To conduct their study, the researchers examined more than 60,000 adults aged 40 and over. Participant data was collected by the Health Survey for England and the Scottish Health Survey between 1994 and 2012. Participants were also asked about their exercise habits.
Participants were then categorized as being a “weekend warrior” (meeting the recommended activity guidelines on at least one to two days per week), “regularly active” (meeting the recommended activity guidelines on a minimum three days a week), “insufficiently active” (exercise less than recommended) or “inactive”. Using data from surveys and the British National Health Service’s central death register, the authors then compared the number of deaths in each category over the course of the study.
Weekend athletes had a 30% lower risk of premature death from all causes compared to inactive people. The risk of death from cardiovascular disease was also around 40% lower, while the risk of death from all types of cancer was around 18% lower compared to inactive people.
Of course, regularly active people had the best overall health – and had a 5% lower risk of premature death from all causes compared to weekend warriors. This finding is consistent with Previous search, suggesting that the more you exercise, the better it is for your health. But that’s only true up to a point – research showing that doing more than five times the minimum recommended weekly activity (equivalent to about 12.5 hours of moderate exercise or slightly more than six hours of vigorous activity) has no added benefit.
weekend warriors
It is well known that exercise improves our cardio-respiratory gymnastics, which is important to ensure the proper functioning of our heart and lungs. Not only does this allow us to exercise longer and more intensely, but it also improves other aspects of our health, such as lowering blood pressure. It’s also likely why research shows that people who exercise regularly have a lower risk of premature death from any cause.
Exercise also reduces body fat and reduces inflammation, which may explain why physical activity reduces risk of death from cancer.
But research shows that how often do you exercise is also important for improve and maintain physical condition. In fact, as little as 72 hours between workouts is sufficient for “detraining” to occur. It refers to the partial or complete loss of training adaptations (such as better cardiovascular function) that occurs when we stop exercising. While some detraining is likely to occur in people who only exercise on weekends, consistent training – even if only on weekends – will still lead to adaptations that are good for health.
Although this research gives hope to those who cannot exercise regularly, it should be interpreted with caution. The study has limitations, as the authors acknowledge. The data was self-reported by the participants, some of whom may have embellished the amount of exercise they really did. Additionally, the number of exercises participants reported only referred to the number of exercises they had done in the four weeks prior to the interview, which may not actually represent what they did. done during the 20-year study period. The researchers also excluded physical activity that a person was doing as part of their job. This is relevant as it can also contribute to lower risk of death of the disease.
The key message of this study is that doing physical activity is better than doing nothing. So if you can only do your workouts on weekends, you’re still likely to have better health compared to someone who doesn’t exercise regularly. But the more regular physical activity you do, the better.
The exercise, combined with a good Alimentation, is essential for good health. add in resistance training (like weightlifting) alongside cardio can help further reinforce the health benefits of exercise.
