A current study suggests that “weekend warrior” exercise patterns, concentrating physical activity into a couple of days a week, offer similar heart health benefits as exercise spread out more equally over the week. Both active groups revealed lower risks of heart-related conditions compared to inactive individuals.
Compared to lack of exercise, both the weekend warrior or a more equally distributed exercise pattern were connected with similarly lower dangers of cardiac arrest, cardiac arrest, atrial fibrillation (an unusual heart rhythm), and stroke.
Individuals who find it challenging to allocate time for workout throughout a busy work week may choose to focus their moderate-to-vigorous physical activity on one to 2 days of the week, normally over the weekend.
In a recent research study carried out by private investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and published in JAMA, this “weekend warrior” pattern was related to a comparable decrease in dangers of heart disease and stroke as compared to work out more equally dispersed throughout the week.
Current guidelines advise at least 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity each week for total health. However, its uncertain if this concentrated kind of workout supplies the exact same benefits as activity spread more evenly over the week.
The Largest Study on the Topic
” Our analysis represents the biggest study to address this question,” states lead author Shaan Khurshid, MD, MPH, a professor in the Demoulas Center for Cardiac Arrhythmias at MGH.
Khurshid and his coworkers analyzed information on 89,573 people from the prospective UK Biobank study. The research study individuals wore wrist accelerometers that taped their overall exercise and the time they spent at different intensities over a complete week.
Activity Patterns and Heart Health
The participants fell into three classifications: 33.7% were non-active (less than 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity weekly), 42.2% were active weekend warriors (at least 150 minutes, with at least half attained in 1– 2 days), and 24.0% were active-regulars (at least 150 minutes, with most of exercise spread out over several days).
After adjusting for potential confounding aspects, both active groups revealed likewise lower risks of cardiovascular disease (27% and 35% lower threats for active weekend warriors and active-regulars, respectively, compared to the inactive group), heart failure (38% and 36% lower threats), atrial fibrillation (22% and 19% lower threats), and stroke (21% and 17% lower risks).
Ramifications and Future Research
” Our findings recommend that interventions to increase exercise, even when concentrated within a day or 2 every week, might improve cardiovascular outcomes,” states senior author Patrick T. Ellinor, MD, PhD, acting chief of Cardiology and the co-director of the Corrigan Minehan Heart Center at MGH.
The team is likewise considering assessing whether weekend warrior– type activity might be related to lowered dangers of a broader spectrum of diseases.
Recommendation: “Accelerometer-Derived “Weekend Warrior” Physical Activity and Incident Cardiovascular Disease” by Shaan Khurshid, MD, MPH; Mostafa A. Al-Alusi, MD; Timothy W. Churchill, MD; J. Sawalla Guseh, MD and Patrick T. Ellinor, MD, PhD, 18 July 2023, JAMA.DOI: 10.1001/ jama.2023.10875.
Extra co-authors include Mostafa A. Al-Alusi, MD, Timothy W. Churchill, MD, and J. Sawalla Guseh, MD..
This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health, the American Heart Association, the European Union, and the President and Fellows of Harvard College.