If you can’t manage to exercise during the week, a few hours of exercise on the weekend could do the same for your health, new research finds.
Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital looked at data from 89,573 adults in the United Kingdom, who tracked their activity for a week using a meter that recorded their movements, such as jogging, cycling and walking.
They wanted to compare the results of people who exercise less with those of people who exercised at least 150 minutes per week, 75 minutes per week vigorously exercised, or a combination thereof, which is recommended in the general guidelines for exercise.
The researchers found that people who met the exercise guidelines had a lower risk of heart failure and stroke than their inactive peers — no surprise, since there is a lot of research highlighting the health benefits of exercise.
But this study also looked at when people exercised, and the researchers found that it didn’t seem to matter if participants trained at regular intervals during the week or did all of their exercise in one or two big sessions, say over the weekend.
These findings show that so-called “weekend exercisers” get similar benefits from their exercise as people who do shorter, more frequent exercise sessions, according to the study published July 18. published in JAMA.
Cramming a week’s worth of exercise into the weekend is a common habit, the researchers found, since more than half of the active study participants fell into that category.
The study was somewhat limited, as each participant was only followed for a week (and participants may have changed their habits because they knew their activity was being recorded, the researchers themselves stressed).
However, the findings are supported by previous research suggesting that weekend exercise may be a good option for people with a busy weekday schedule who still want to exercise for better health.
“If you are able to reach the levels recommended by the guidelines on one or two days a week, our findings show that you have a similar benefit, compared to people who can distribute it more evenly,” said lead author Dr. Shaan Khurshid to CNN. “You should not be discouraged if you have a different sport or lifestyle.”
Every little bit of exercise can boost your health
The research also suggests that if you want to fit all of your exercise into the weekend, you should work out for about two and a half hours on those one or two days.
But don’t despair if you’d rather spend your weekend watching Netflix than a marathon at the gym.
Other research has shown that you can also get the benefits of exercise from short, frequent bouts of activity throughout the day and week.
When you move, or how long you exercise at a time, is less important as long as you exercise for 150 minutes. If you divide that over seven days of the week, you end up with just over 21 minutes a day.
Both cardio and strength training are good for your health, and some research suggests that a combination may be ideal.
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2023-07-21 13:21:00
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