Why only exercising at the weekend could actually be good for you

Exercising only at the weekends is enough to lower the risk of developing more than 200 health conditions, from kidney issues and obesity to mood disorders, scientists have said.

A study of nearly 90,000 adults in the UK found people who cram all their workouts into the weekend – known as weekend warriors – enjoy the same benefits as those who spread their exercise throughout the week.

Researchers said the findings, published in the journal Circulation, suggest the total amount of exercise is more important than following a daily pattern of physical activity.

Dr Shaan Khurshid, a faculty member in the Demoulas Centre for Cardiac Arrhythmias at Massachusetts general hospital, said: “Physical activity is known to affect risk of many diseases.

“Here, we show the potential benefits of weekend warrior activity for risk not only of cardiovascular diseases, as we’ve shown in the past, but also future diseases spanning the whole spectrum, ranging from conditions like chronic kidney disease to mood disorders and beyond.”

The NHS guidelines recommend 150 minutes of moderate exercise, such as brisk walking or riding a bike, or 75 minutes of vigorous activity, such as running or hill-cycling, per week.

Being inactive is associated with one in six deaths in the UK and is estimated to cost the UK £7.4 billion annually, according to government figures.

But busy weekdays mean some people are only able to exercise one or two days a week.

To find out if weekend workouts were as beneficial as regular exercise during the week, the researchers looked at data from 89,573 people from the UK Biobank, a database that holds medical and lifestyle records of more than half a million Britons.

Those taking part wore activity trackers and were classed as “weekend warriors”, “regular” or “inactive”, based on their weekly movement.

The team said that compared to no exercise, cramming workouts into one to two days or being active throughout the week were associated with “substantially lower risks of over 200 diseases”.

Blood pressure and diabetes

Analysis showed those who exercised regularly during the week had a 28 per cent lower list of developing high blood pressure while those who were active only at the weekends had a 23 per cent lower risk.

For diabetes, the risk was 43 per cent lower for weekend warriors and 46 per cent lower for those who exercised during the week, the researchers said.

Dr Khurshid said: “Our findings were consistent across many different definitions of weekend warrior activity, as well as other thresholds used to categorise people as active.

“Because there appears to be similar benefits for weekend warrior versus regular activity, it may be the total volume of activity, rather than the pattern, that matters most.”

He said further research is needed to understand more about the effectiveness of being weekend warriors.