Research suggests that “weekend warriors,” individuals who condense their physical activity into one or two days, can reap the same health benefits as those who exercise consistently throughout the week if they achieve the recommended amount of physical activity. The study, recently published in the American Heart Association journal Circulation and presented at the German Cardiac Society’s Heart Days conference, revealed that concentrating 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity over a short period or spreading it out over the week led to decreased risks for more than 200 diseases over the following six years. Notably, the study highlighted strong associations with cardiometabolic conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes.

Dr. Shaan Khurshid, an author of the study and a cardiac electrophysiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, emphasized that what truly matters is meeting the total volume of physical activity recommended, regardless of the pattern of activity. The key takeaway is ensuring individuals reach the recommended levels of physical activity, whether achieved over one or two days or throughout the week.

Physical activity is known to lower the risk of various diseases, including cardiovascular conditions. Federal guidelines recommend that adults engage in at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity physical activity weekly. The study focused on comparing the health benefits of “weekend warriors” to those who spread out their exercise over the week.

Using data from the UK Biobank, researchers examined physical activity levels and disease prevalence among 89,573 participants, with activity measured using accelerometers worn by the volunteers for a week. Over a median 6.3 years of follow-up, the development of 678 diseases was tracked. Among participants meeting the weekly physical activity recommendation, those who exercised throughout the week averaged 418 minutes, while “weekend warriors” reached a median of 288 minutes but still showed reduced risks for 264 health conditions.

The study found that both weekend warriors and individuals who spread their activity throughout the week experienced similar reductions in disease risk, particularly regarding cardiometabolic conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity. Dr. Leanna Ross, an assistant professor in medicine at Duke University School of Medicine, praised the study for underlining the wide-ranging health benefits of physical activity and noted that it can be crucial to overall well-being.

However, one limitation highlighted by Ross is that the study’s participants were mostly white, raising questions about the generalizability of the findings to other racial and ethnic groups. Despite this, the study reinforces the notion that physical activity, even when performed intensively over a couple of days, can substantially contribute to improving health outcomes and reducing disease risks.