Weekend warrior exercise pattern

Do you like squeezing all your weekly exercise into just one or two days? From a health standpoint, that practice may be just as effective as spreading your exercise out over an entire week, a new study finds.

Researchers used data from nearly 351,000 adults who reported their exercise habits from 1997 to 2013. They then divided participants based on whether and when during the week they met federal exercise guidelines (at least 150 minutes of moderate physical activity or at least 75 minutes of vigorous activity per week). Those who didn't meet the guidelines were classed as "inactive"; those who did, and who spread their activity throughout the week, were "regularly active"; and those who did all their activity in one or two days were "weekend warriors."

When researchers linked that data to information from the National Death Index, they found no difference in overall death rates or deaths from specific causes among the two active groups. People who get recommended levels of physical activity may experience similar benefits regardless of when they do their workouts, the researchers say. Their findings were published in the August 2022 issue of JAMA Internal Medicine.

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