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

For many people, the demands of adult life leave little room for spare time. It is easy to wonder, "I barely have time to cook dinner. How can I find time to exercise regularly during the week?"

The health advantages linked to exercise – including a lower likelihood of chronic conditions such as heart disease and dementia – may feel unattainable amid the competing demands of work and everyday life.

However, fresh research published in Nature Aging brings encouraging news for anyone who finds it difficult to schedule regular weekday exercise.

The study indicates that "weekend warriors" – people who complete most of their exercise at the weekend – could gain brain health and mental health benefits comparable with those of people active consistently across the week.

What the study did

Researchers in China examined information from more than 75,000 UK Biobank participants. UK Biobank is a major cohort study following the health of around half a million people in the United Kingdom, with more than 100,000 participants having worn activity-tracking devices. The average age of the people included in this analysis was 62.

Using wrist-worn trackers, participants recorded their physical activity patterns for seven days. The researchers then placed them into three categories:

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

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

They also accounted for a range of important health and lifestyle factors that may affect these outcomes, including age, sex, smoking status, alcohol intake, diet, and a history of diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure) and cancer.

Weekend warriors reap big rewards

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

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

Compared with the inactive group, they also had a 40% lower risk of depression and a 37% lower risk of anxiety. For every measure, results among weekend warriors were similar to those seen in regularly active participants.

The apparent protection against depression and anxiety was consistent among people both below and above the age of 65. In contrast, the lower risks of dementia, stroke and Parkinson's disease were especially evident among those aged over 65. This reflects the major value of physical activity for older people, who face a greater risk of these conditions.

There's more than one way to get the benefits

But what happens if work, family responsibilities or other commitments make weekend exercise impossible? The researchers also considered different versions of the weekend warrior pattern.

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

Likewise, an earlier study that also drew on UK Biobank data found that people who complete most of their exercise in one or two days gain heart health benefits similar to those of people who divide their activity more evenly across the week.

There is also no need for conventional gym exercise to be your preference. The activity trackers used in the study captured every type of activity. The findings therefore suggest that the benefits apply regardless of the way moderate-to-vigorous activity is accumulated.

This is in line with an expanding body of research showing that everyone can benefit, whether activity takes the form of brief daily bursts such as climbing stairs, doing household chores or walking in the park, or longer running sessions and gym workouts.

Some caveats to consider

Although the team accounted for several lifestyle and health characteristics, other influences may still have affected some of the observed associations.

The study also could not examine how changes in physical activity over time may affect brain health. Earlier research has found that even adults who have been inactive can gain immediate health benefits when they become more active.

Even so, these results strengthen the considerable evidence that moderate-to-vigorous physical activity supports brain health and overall health – whatever days of the week you are able to make time for it.

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.