Weekend warriors may gain the same brain and mental health benefits as regular exercisers

For many adults, spare time is in short supply amid the demands of everyday life. Plenty of us think, "I barely have time to cook dinner. How can I find time to exercise regularly during the week?"

The health advantages of exercise, including a lower likelihood of chronic conditions such as heart disease and dementia, may feel unattainable when work and other commitments take over.

However, new research published in the journal Nature Aging brings encouraging news for people unable to build regular exercise into their weekday routines.

Its results indicate that "weekend warriors" – people who complete most of their exercise at the weekend – could gain brain-health and mental-health benefits comparable with those enjoyed by people active consistently across the week.

What the study did

A Chinese research team examined information from more than 75,000 UK Biobank participants. UK Biobank is a major cohort study monitoring the health of roughly half a million people in the United Kingdom. More than 100,000 participants wore activity-tracking devices. The average age of those included in this research was 62.

Using wrist-worn devices, participants recorded their physical activity patterns over seven days. Researchers subsequently placed them in one of three categories:

• inactive: people who did not achieve the advised 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity each week
• regularly active: people who met the recommendations by distributing activity across the week
• "weekend warriors": people who met the recommendations by completing more than 50% of their activity over one or two days (not necessarily Saturday and Sunday, but any one or two days in a week).

Participants were followed for a median of 8.4 years. The team used GP records, hospital admissions data and death records to identify the development of neurological diseases – dementia, stroke and Parkinson's disease – and psychological disorders, including depression and anxiety.

The analysis took account of important lifestyle and health characteristics that might influence these outcomes. These included age, sex, smoking status, alcohol intake, diet, and a history of conditions including diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure) and cancer.

Weekend warriors reap substantial benefits

Of the approximately 75,500 participants, around 24,300 were categorised as inactive, 21,200 as regularly active, and 30,000 as weekend warriors.

Compared with inactive adults, weekend warriors had a 26% lower risk of developing dementia, a 21% lower risk of stroke, and a 45% lower risk of Parkinson's disease.

Compared with the inactive group, their risk of depression was 40% lower and their risk of anxiety was 37% lower. Each of these outcomes among weekend warriors was similar to that seen in regularly active participants.

The apparent protection against depression and anxiety was consistent in both age groups: under 65 and over 65. Yet, the lower risks of dementia, stroke and Parkinson's disease were especially marked among people aged over 65. This reflects the considerable value of physical activity for older adults, who face a greater risk of these conditions.

Weekend warrior activity can fit different schedules

But what happens when exercise at the weekend is not possible because of work, family responsibilities or other obligations? Reassuringly, the researchers examined several versions of the weekend warrior pattern.

They found that people experienced comparable health benefits provided they completed most of their moderate-to-vigorous physical activity on any one or two days during the week, even where those days were not consecutive.

In an earlier study that also drew on UK Biobank data, researchers likewise found that people completing most of their exercise over one or two days gained heart-health benefits similar to people who spread their physical activity more evenly through the week.

There is also good news for people who do not enjoy conventional gym exercise. The activity trackers used in the study captured every type of activity. Therefore, however people build up their moderate-to-vigorous activity, the findings suggest they can gain the related health benefits.

This is consistent with a growing body of evidence showing that health benefits are available to everyone, whether activity takes the form of brief daily bursts such as climbing stairs, doing household chores or walking in the park, or longer periods of running or gym training.

Some caveats to consider

Although the researchers accounted for a range of health and lifestyle factors, it remains possible that other influences affected some of the associations.

The study was also unable to examine how changes in physical activity over time could affect brain health. Earlier research has found that even inactive adults may experience immediate health benefits when they raise their activity levels.

Even so, the results add to the extensive evidence that moderate-to-vigorous physical activity supports brain health and overall health, whatever days of the week people are able to fit it in.

Matthew Ahmadi, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney and Emmanuel Stamatakis, Professor of Physical Activity, Lifestyle, and Population Health, University of Sydney

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.