A huge study found that doing all the exercise on the weekends was probably fine

Thanks to scientists who collect and analyze vast amounts of data, we know a lot about exercise and how it can help your health.

We know something like Optimal time Exercise, How often do you need to exerciseAnd what The type of strength you should aim for..

Of course, many of these are just recommendations, but based on aggregated data recorded by thousands of participants, the ones that seem to be most effective for most people and from various perspectives. is showing.

For example, they tell us some interesting and useful factoids: How much exercise is needed to offset sitting All day, or how best To lose weightAnd even how Get health benefits with just one workout..

All of these studies have insights that we can learn and try to apply to our own lives. But if you’re like most people, one of the biggest problems with exercise is simply finding time to actually do it during the week.

In that regard, scientists also have some news. And that’s good news.

and New international researchResearchers analyzed public health data from more than 350,000 people in the United States collected through National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) Between 1997 and 2013.

Examining the data, a team led by leading author Mauricio dos Santos, an exercise physiology researcher at the Federal University of Sao Paulo in Brazil, asked one question that he wanted to investigate.

Simply put, if you are exercising enough to meet the recommended level of physical activity each week, it is important to exercise in one or two sessions (also known as “Weekend Warriors”). Or do you do physical activity in three or more regular sessions during the week?

Current, World Health Organization (WHO) 2020 Guidelines For physical activity and sedentary behavior, adults need to do 150-300 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity each week, or 75-150 minutes of intense intensity exercise (or an equivalent combination thereof) each week. It is stipulated.

The study looked at health before, Benefits of being a “Weekend Warrior”The comparison between exercising only once or twice a week and having more frequent physical activity sessions is unclear, especially in terms of reducing the risk of death.

dos Santos and co. Thanks to, I got a clearer answer.

After comparing people in the cohort who performed weekly moderate to active physical activity (MVPA) recommended levels, researchers participated in more regular exercise with weekend warriors to reduce the risk of death from all causes. I found that there was almost no difference with the person.Or specifically cancer Or cardiovascular disease.

“Participants who are regularly active with weekend warriors have found that all causes and cause-specific mortality rates are similar. This is because of the same amount of physical activity. It suggests that expanding it to more days or concentrating on fewer days may not affect mortality outcomes. ” Write in their treatise..

The most important point is not to worry about the frequency and timing of exercise, but to achieve the recommended level of activity every week. This is the time when the effects of exercise are most apparent.

During 10.4 years (median duration of participants involved in the survey), nearly 22,000 people involved in the NHIS died. However, among all participants, the statistical likelihood of dying from a variety of causes was generally significantly reduced when performing the recommended levels of physical activity.

“The results of this large prospective cohort study show that individuals engaged in active patterns of physical activity, whether weekend warriors or regularly active, are more likely than inactive individuals to cause all. It suggests that the mortality rate by cause is low. ” Team explains..

“The hazard ratio for all-cause mortality was 0.92 for weekend warriors and 0.85 for regularly active participants compared to physically inactive participants. Death by cause. The rate results were similar. “

Researchers note some limitations of the analysis, including that the primary survey data is from a self-reported questionnaire and tends to contain a certain level of error compared to more objective measurements. To do.

On the plus side, the findings here include a huge cohort of observations over a long period of time, which can give considerable confidence to the reported statistics.

Ultimately, the results confirm a lot of what we already know: exercise is good for you, and for many of us doing it enough will make us live longer. Can help.

In addition, if you can make time for one or two workouts on the weekend, that’s true even if you don’t have enough time.

“These findings are important for people who have less opportunity to do physical activity daily or on a regular basis on weekdays.” Researcher explains..

Survey results will be reported at JAMA Internal Medicine..