In a busy work week, finding time to exercise can be challenging, leading many people to cram their physical activity into one or two days of the week.
According to a study conducted by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and published in JAMA, this “weekend warrior” exercise pattern may provide the same benefits as more evenly distributed activity, including lower risks of heart disease and stroke.
Current guidelines recommend at least 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per week for overall health.
But it remained unclear whether concentrated bursts of exercise could provide the same benefits as more evenly distributed activity.
“Our analysis represents the largest study to address this question,” says lead author Dr. Shaan Khurshid, a faculty member in the Demoulas Center for Cardiac Arrhythmias at MGH.
The MGH team examined data on 89,573 individuals from the prospective UK Biobank study. Participants wore wrist accelerometers for a week, providing a record of their total physical activity and time spent at different intensities.
Among participants, 33.7% were inactive (less than 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per week), 42.2% were active weekend warriors (at least 150 minutes with at least half achieved in 1–2 days), and 24.0% were active-regular (at least 150 minutes spread out over several days).
After adjustments, both activity patterns were associated with similarly lower risks of heart attack (27% and 35% lower risks for active weekend warriors and active-regular, respectively, compared with inactive), heart failure (38% and 36% lower risks), atrial fibrillation (22% and 19% lower risks), and stroke (21% and 17% lower risks).
“Our findings suggest that interventions to increase physical activity, even when concentrated within a day or two each week, may improve cardiovascular outcomes,” says senior author Dr. Patrick T. Ellinor, acting chief of Cardiology and the co-director of the Corrigan Minehan Heart Center at MGH.
The research team plans to further investigate whether the weekend warrior–type activity might also be associated with reduced risks of a broader range of diseases.
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The study was published in JAMA.
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