A study conducted by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital in the United States has delivered good news for busy individuals throughout the week. According to the study, engaging in the recommended amount of physical activity in an intense manner over one or two days is equivalent to spreading it out over the week. Both patterns can reduce the risk of 264 diseases, including cardiovascular, psychological, and digestive disorders.
The findings, published in the journal Circulation on September 26, indicate that the total amount of activity is what matters most, not how it is distributed. Individuals should be encouraged to engage in physical activity at times that suit them.
Intense Physical Activity and Disease Connection
The researchers analyzed data from the UK Biobank project and found that both patterns of intense weekend activity, known as “weekend warriors,” and regular activity spread throughout the week were effective in reducing the risk of conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and many other diseases.
Dr. Shaun Khurshid, a co-author of the study and an associate professor at the DeMolles Center for Heart Disorders at Massachusetts General Hospital, stated, “It is well known that physical activity affects the risk of many diseases.” He added—according to the EurekAlert website—”We show here the potential benefits of weekend warrior activity not only in reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease, as we previously demonstrated, but also in lowering the risk of future diseases across a wide range of conditions, including chronic kidney diseases and mood disorders.”
How Much Exercise Do You Need?
Medical guidelines recommend engaging in at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity each week to maintain overall health. Moderate physical activity refers to activities that are equivalent in intensity to brisk walking or cycling, while vigorous physical activity leads to significant increases in breathing or heart rate, such as running or cycling uphill.
However, among those who adhere to these recommendations, do those who exercise for 20-30 minutes most days of the week experience greater benefits compared to those who skip exercise for 5 or 6 days and then gather all their activity into one day?
Khurshid, along with co-author Dr. Patrick Ellinor, head of cardiology and co-director of the Corrigan Minehan Heart Center at Massachusetts General Hospital, analyzed data from 89,573 individuals who wore sensors recording their total physical activity and the time spent in exercises of varying intensities over the week.
Classification of Physical Activity Patterns
Participants’ physical activity patterns were classified into three categories: weekend warriors, regular activity individuals, and inactive individuals, based on the minimum requirement of 150 minutes per week of moderate to vigorous physical activity.
Physical Activity and Disease Prevention
The team then looked for associations between physical activity patterns and the occurrence of 678 health conditions across 16 categories, including mental health, digestive health, neurological health, and others.
The analyses showed that both weekend warrior and regular activity patterns were associated with a significant reduction in the risk of over 200 diseases compared to inactivity. The strongest relationship was observed with a reduced risk of cardiometabolic diseases such as high blood pressure and diabetes. An association was also found between physical activity and a reduced risk of all categories of diseases tested.
Khurshid noted, “Our results were consistent across different definitions of weekend warriors and other thresholds used to classify individuals as active.”
The findings suggest that physical activity overall has broad benefits in reducing the risk of future diseases, especially cardiometabolic diseases. Khurshid stated, “Since the benefits seem to be similar between weekend warrior activity and regular activity, it may be the total amount of activity that is most important, not the pattern.”
He added, “Future interventions are needed to test the effectiveness of concentrated activity in improving public health, and patients should be encouraged to engage in physical activity in line with guideline recommendations using any pattern that suits them.”
