Get your exercise in whenever and however you can
Weekend warriors: those in the 9-5 workforce who turn out in great numbers for weekend soccer games, pickup volleyball, or yoga sessions. They don’t necessarily work out every day, but they work out hard on the weekends.
New research supports this form of exercise: a new study shows that adults who accumulate 150 minutes of exercise on a few days of the week are not any less healthy than adults who exercise more frequently throughout the week.
“The findings indicate that it does not matter how adults choose to accumulate their 150 weekly minutes of physical activity,” says Dr. Ian Janssen. “For instance, someone who did not perform any physical activity on Monday to Friday but was active for 150 minutes over the weekend would obtain the same health benefits from their activity as someone who accumulated 150 minutes of activity over the week by doing 20-25 minutes of activity on a daily basis.”
The study divided adults who met physical activity guidelines (150 minutes or 2.5 hours per week of aerobic activity) into those who were frequently active (5-7 days) and infrequently active (active 1-4 days per week).
“The important message is that adults should aim to accumulate at least 150 minutes of weekly physical activity in whatever pattern that works for their schedule.”
The paper is available from Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism here: nrcresearchpress.com
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