Many scientific studies have demonstrated the benefits of physical exercise for general health and emotional well-being, but questions may arise regarding how frequently it should be done to obtain all its benefits. Work and other obligations mean that some people have no choice but to concentrate moderate to vigorous intensity exercise on one or two days of the week, or on the weekend.
A study by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital, a founding member of the Mass General Brigham health system, has found that this exercise pattern known as ‘weekend warrior’ is linked to a lower risk of developing 264 diseases later in life. , and is as effective in reducing risk as physical activity spread throughout the week. The results have been published in the journal Circulation.
“We know that physical activity influences the risk of many diseases,” said Dr. Shaan Khurshid, a member of the Demoulas Center for Cardiac Arrhythmias at Massachusetts General Hospital and co-senior author of the study. “Here we demonstrate the possible benefits of concentrated weekend activity, not only on the risk of cardiovascular disease, as we had shown before, but also on a variety of future diseases ranging from chronic kidney problems to mood disorders. encouragement and more.”
The guidelines recommend at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity weekly to maintain overall health. However, among those who adhere to these recommendations, do those who exercise 20-30 minutes most days of the week experience more benefits compared to those who allow 5 or 6 days between longer exercise sessions?
Lower cardiometabolic risk for weekend warriors
Khurshid, along with Dr. Patrick Ellinor, acting chief of cardiology and co-director of the Corrigan Minehan Heart Center at Massachusetts General Hospital, and their team analyzed data from 89,573 people from the prospective UK Biobank study. These participants wore wrist-worn accelerometers that recorded their total physical activity and time spent at different exercise intensities over a week.
Participants were classified into three groups: ‘weekend warriors’, regularly active people, or inactive, depending on whether they met the threshold of 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per week. The team then looked for associations between physical activity patterns and the occurrence of 678 conditions related to 16 types of diseases, including mental health, digestive, neurological and other categories.
The analysis revealed that both regular and ‘weekend warrior’ exercise patterns were associated with a significant reduced risk of more than 200 diseases compared to inactivity. The strongest associations were observed in cardiometabolic pathologies, such as hypertension (with a 23% and 28% reduction in risk over an average period of 6 years with weekend exercise and regular exercise, respectively) and diabetes ( with a 43% and 46% decrease in risk, respectively). However, the associations extended to all disease categories evaluated.
“Given that there appear to be similar benefits between concentrated weekend activity and regular activity, it is possible that the total volume of exercise, rather than the pattern, is most relevant.”
“Our findings were consistent with different definitions of weekend activity, as well as other thresholds used to classify people as active,” Khurshid said. The results suggest that physical activity is broadly beneficial in reducing the risk of future diseases, especially cardiometabolic diseases.
“Given that there appear to be similar benefits between concentrated weekend activity and regular activity, it is possible that the total volume of exercise, rather than the pattern, is most relevant,” Khurshid added. “Future interventions testing the effectiveness of concentrated physical activity to improve public health are necessary, and patients should be encouraged to engage in physical activity as recommended, using whatever pattern best fits their lifestyle,” he concludes. the researcher.
