For those who struggle to find time to exercise during the week, preferring to do most of it on the weekend, a new study has found that being a “weekend warrior” is still effective at reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease.
We’re all aware of the health benefits of physical activity: improved brain health and mood, weight management, reduced risk of disease, and strengthened bones and muscles.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends doing 150 minutes or more of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) per week, which is echoed by the American Heart Association. MVPA includes brisk walking, dancing and gardening at the moderate end of the spectrum, and jogging, fast cycling, tennis and soccer at the vigorous end.
The UK National Health Service recommends that this exercise be spread evenly across four or five days a week. But what if other commitments – work, children, or school, for example – only leaves the weekend to exercise? Can you still reap the health benefits? A new study by Massachusetts General Hospital has answered that question, and it’s promising for so-called “weekend warriors.”
Weekend warriors achieve 50% or more of their recommended 150 minutes of MVPA in one or two days of the week. The researchers wanted to know whether concentrating physical activity produced the same positive health effects as more evenly distributed activity.
They examined data from 89,573 individuals taken from the UK Biobank study who underwent activity measurement between 2013 and 2015. Participants wore wrist accelerometers that recorded their total physical activity and time spent at different exercise intensities over a week. A total of 37,872 participants (42.2%) were in the weekend warrior group, 21,473 (24%) in the regular active group, and 30,228 (33.7%) in the inactive group, doing less than 150 minutes of MVPA per week.
Compared to the inactive group, both the weekend warrior and regular activity patterns were associated with similarly lowered risks for common cardiovascular diseases. There was a 27% and 35% lower risk of heart attack in the weekend warrior and regular active groups, respectively. A 38% and 36% lower risk of heart failure, a 22% and 19% lower risk of atrial fibrillation, an irregular heart rhythm, and a 21% and 17% lower risk of stroke.
“Our findings suggest that interventions to increase physical activity, even when concentrated with a day or two each week, may improve cardiovascular outcomes,” said Patrick Ellinor, a study co-author.
The researchers note some limitations of their study. Physical activity was measured over one week, and participants may have modified their behavior while being observed. Also, using a UK-based sample of predominantly White individuals may limit the study’s generalizability.
Nonetheless, the study highlights the different, flexible ways physical activity can be accrued throughout the week to reap the health benefits.
“It is also important to recognize that there is variability in response to physical activity,” said Peter Katzmarzyk and John Jakicic in a joint opinion piece about the study, which they weren’t involved in. “Some individuals may accrue substantial health benefits at lower levels of physical activity, whereas others may require a higher amount of physical activity to accrue these benefits. Thus, these factors need to be considered and initial intervention targets should focus on encouraging movement as a gateway to higher levels of physical activity, rather than promoting the range of 150 to 300 minutes per week of physical activity to optimize health.”
Further research is needed to see whether weekend-warrior-type exercise is associated with reduced risks of other types of disease.
The study was published in JAMA, as was the opinion piece.
Source: Massachusetts General Hospital