Being physically active for just a couple of days a week may be the key to boosting health, researchers said Wednesday.
People who follow a “weekend warrior” approach and participate in at least two-and-a-half hours of moderate to vigorous physical activity in just two days surprisingly experienced similar health benefits as distributing the activity throughout the week.
Similarly to those who engaged in activity throughout the week, those who spent less time or fewer days being active had a significantly lower risk of death from all causes, as well as cardiovascular disease and cancer.
“You don’t need to exercise every day to stay healthy. As long as you get 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per week — whether packed into one to two days or spread out — you can significantly reduce your risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, cancer or other causes,” Dr. Zhi-Hao Li, an epidemiologist in the School of Public Health at Southern Medical University in Guangzhou, China, said in a statement.
The study examined the physical activity of more than 93,000 participants between the ages of 37 and 73 in a large United Kingdom biomedical database. The researchers said the study was the first to analyze the relationship between physical activity patterns measured by devices and the risk of death from cardiovascular disease and cancer.
Participants, who were largely white, wore wrist accelerometers that tracked their physical activity. The data gathered was then categorized into three groups: “active weekend warrior,” “active regular,” and “inactive.”
Those who were “active weekend warriors” completed the majority of their exercise on two days, “active regulars” spread their activity throughout the week, and “inactives” did not complete the recommended minimum of 150 minutes of weekly physical activity.
