If you struggle to squeeze exercise into your workweek, there’s some encouraging news. A new study suggests that fitting your recommended weekly activity into just one or two days, as so-called “weekend warriors” do, can offer similar health benefits to exercising daily.
Researchers analyzing nearly 90,000 participants from the UK Biobank project found that people who crammed their workouts into the weekend had a lower risk of developing more than 200 diseases compared to those who were inactive. The protective effects align with those seen in people who space out their workouts over a week.
These findings are similar to other studies that reached similar conclusions, showing that the volume of physical activity may matter more than how it is spread across the week.
“I think this is empowering,” said Dr. Shaan Khurshid, a cardiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, who led the research. “It shows that, in terms of health benefits, it’s really the volume of physical activity rather than the pattern that matters. The key is, however you are going to get that volume, do it in the way that works for you.”
How the Study Worked
The team of researchers analyzed the health and exercise patterns of 89,573 people who wore wrist devices to track their movements for a week. Based on the NHS guidelines, those who completed at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise in a week were put into groups. Regular exercisers had workouts spread out throughout the week. Meanwhile, for weekend warriors most of the exercise occurred in one or two days. People who fell short of the weekly target were considered inactive.
Years after the initial exercise monitoring, the researchers saw a clear benefit for those meeting the exercise guidelines — whether they exercised regularly or only on weekends. The “weekend warriors” had a reduced risk of 264 health conditions, ranging from hypertension and diabetes to mood disorders and kidney disease. The benefits were similar to those seen in people who spread out their activity over the week.
For cardiovascular conditions, the effects were especially strong. The risk of hypertension was more than 20% lower in both groups of exercisers, while the risk of developing diabetes dropped by over 40%.
The Big Picture
This isn’t the first study to support the “weekend warrior” lifestyle. Similar findings were reported in 2017 and again in 2022. These studies all showed that exercising just a couple of days a week was linked to a lower risk of dying from cancer or cardiovascular diseases compared to remaining sedentary.
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But one lingering question was whether exercise is truly responsible for the lower risk of disease, or whether people who are already healthier are simply more likely to exercise. In the latest study, the researchers attempted to account for this by excluding participants who developed medical conditions within two years of being monitored.
For some, concentrated bouts of exercise may be more convenient than daily workouts. The researchers noted that focusing on total activity might help more people meet health guidelines.
However, for those already meeting the guidelines, increasing the frequency of exercise may bring even more health benefits.
So, whether you’re a weekend warrior or a daily gym-goer, the message is clear: when it comes to your health, it’s the total amount of physical activity that counts the most.
The findings were reported in the journal Circulation.