This article is about “exercise benefit about the same during the week or on weekends”. For decades we heard that regular exercise was the only way how to reduce the risk regarding cardiovascular disease. But a new study is questioning this assumption. It found that when you exercise for 2.5 hours on a weekend (“weekend warrior”or WW), you are protecting yourself from heart attacks and strokes. This protection was just as much as if you had exercised 2.5 hours distributed during the week. The key is that you exercised. The findings were in comparison to those who did not exercise at all, which served as the baseline. Below are the findings of this study.
Reduction of Risk Hazard ratios for Cardiovascular Outcomes, ‘active WW’ and ‘active regular’ groups vs ‘inactive’ group
| Outcome | Active WW; risk ratio | Active Regular; risk ratio |
| Incident atrial fibrillation | 22% less | 19% less |
| Myocardial infarction | 27% less | 35% less |
| Heart failure | 38% less | 36% less |
| Stroke | 21% less | 17% less |
Modified from here.
The study consisted of 89,573 participants with an average age of 62. There were 56% women and 44% men. 37, 872 (42.2%) were in the weekend warrior (WW) group, 21 473 (24%) in the active regular group and 30 228 (33.7%) in the inactive group. 150 minutes or more moderate to vigorous physical activity was tested. The results above were obtained at 230 (= 3 hours 50 minutes) minutes of exercise during the week or on weekends. The authors published the results in the medical Journal JAMA on July 18, 2023.
Exercise Benefit about the same during the Week or on Weekends
Conclusion
For many years exercise physiologists believed that the only way how to improve cardiovascular risk would be by regular physical exercise. A new study published in JAMA on July 18, 2023 showed that this assumption was wrong. In fact, you can avoid exercising during the week and only exercise on weekends for a total of 3 hours and 50 minutes. The researchers called these the “weekend warrior types”. They have the same chance of preventing heart attacks and strokes as those who exercise during the week for the same accumulated time. The subjects were wearing accelerometers to measure the amount of physical exercise. The risk reduction in the “weekend warriors” was about the same as in the active regular group. Those who exercise have about 20% less atrial fibrillation, 30% less heart attacks, and 37% less heart failure. They also had 18% less strokes when compared to the inactive group.
