‘Weekend warrior’ approach works for lowering your risk of disease, study finds

Getting most of your movement during weekend workouts can lower the risk of hundreds of diseases and be just as effective as regular exercise, according to researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital.

A team examined physical activity – using wrist-worn trackers – and disease data from more than 89,000 older adults in the UK Biobank research database. They tracked the development of hundreds of diseases within participants for about six years.

Findings show that being a weekend warrior – reaching recommended exercise levels by working out at the end of the week – was associated with a lower risk for 264 health conditions. That compared with a lower risk of 205 conditions for the participants who remained active throughout the week.

However, “there were no significant differences in disease risk reduction between weekend warriors and weeklong exercisers” when compared directly, according to an American Heart Association press release. Participants showed a 43% (weekend warriors) and 46% (regular exercise) lower risk for diabetes and a 23% and 28% lower risk for high blood pressure, respectively.

“The bottom line is that it’s really the total volume of physical activity, rather than the pattern, that matters,” said Shaan Khurshid, co-senior study author and cardiac electrophysiologist. “The important thing is that you get your recommended levels of physical activity. If one to two days a week works for you, you’re still going to get that benefit.”

The study was published in the journal Circulation.