With all the responsibilities of adulthood, free time can be at a premium. Many of us find ourselves asking ourselves, “I barely have time to make dinner, how am I going to find time to exercise regularly during the week?”
The health benefits of exercise include reducing the risk of chronic diseases such as: Heart disease and dementia – Work and life pressures may make it seem out of reach.
but, New Research The study, published in the journal Nature Aging, comes as good news for people who struggle to fit regular exercise into their weekday schedules.
The survey results were:Weekend Warrior“People who do most of their exercise on weekends may enjoy the same brain health and mental health benefits as people who exercise regularly during the week.”
What the study found
The Chinese research team UK BiobankThis is a large cohort study following the health of around half a million people in the UK. Over 100,000 people Some of them were wearing wearable activity trackers.The average age of the study participants was 62.
Participants provided data via a wrist-worn wearable device that tracked their physical activity patterns over a seven-day period. They were then split into three groups:
- Inactive: People who do not meet the recommended values 150 min Moderate to vigorous exercise per week
- Regularly active: People who are active throughout the week and meet the guidelines
- “Weekend Warriors”: People who meet the guidelines by concentrating 50% or more of their activities over one or two days (not necessarily Saturday and Sunday, but one or two days a week).
The researchers followed up participants for an average of 8.4 years. They used GP records, hospital admission data and death records to track the onset of neurological diseases (dementia, stroke and Parkinson’s disease) and psychological disorders (including depression and anxiety disorders).
The researchers controlled for several key lifestyle and health factors that may affect these results, including age, sex, smoking status, alcohol intake, diet, and medical history such as diabetes, high blood pressure, or cancer.
Weekend warriors reap big rewards
Of the roughly 75,500 participants, about 24,300 were classified as inactive, 21,200 as regularly active, and 30,000 as active on weekends.
The findings showed that compared with less active adults, weekend sport participants had a 26% lower risk of developing dementia, a 21% lower risk of stroke, and a 45% lower risk of Parkinson’s disease.
Compared to the inactive group, the risks of depression and anxiety were 40% and 37% lower, respectively. These figures for the weekend exercise group were similar to those for the regularly active group.
The protective effects against depression and anxiety were consistent across age groups under and over 65. However, the reduced risk of dementia, stroke, and Parkinson’s disease was particularly pronounced in people over 65. This result reflects the substantial benefits of physical activity for older adults. High risk of these conditions.
There’s more than one way to benefit
What if work, family obligations, or other reasons don’t allow you to exercise on the weekends? Luckily, researchers have looked at different lifestyle patterns among people who exercise on the weekends.
The researchers found that as long as the majority of moderate-to-vigorous exercise is done on one or two days a week, even if those days are not consecutive, you’ll get similar health benefits.
in Previous researchThe researchers also used data from the UK Biobank. was similarly found People who split the majority of their exercise into one or two days see similar heart health benefits as those who spread their exercise out more evenly throughout the week.
If traditional gym sessions aren’t your thing, you’re in luck: the study used activity trackers that monitor all kinds of activity, so the research suggests that health benefits can be achieved regardless of how you stack up your moderate-to-vigorous exercise.
this is, Growing Body of the study that show The bottom line is that short everyday activities like climbing the stairs, doing housework or walking in the park, or longer activities like running or hitting the gym, can have health benefits for everyone.
Some caveats to consider:
The researchers took into account a range of lifestyle and health factors, but it’s possible that other factors may be influencing some of the association.
Another limitation is that the study was not able to assess how changes in physical activity affect brain health over time. Previous studies have shown that even sedentary adults Increase your activity level You’ll see immediate health benefits.
Nevertheless, the results of this study Brain Health Benefits Learn about the overall health benefits of moderate to vigorous exercise any day of the week.
Matthew AhmadiPostdoctoral Research Fellow, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences; University of Sydney and Emmanuel StamatakisProfessor of Physical Activity, Lifestyle and Population Health; University of Sydney
This article is reprinted from conversation Published under a Creative Commons license. Original article.
