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2 Days of Weekly Exercise Can be as Effective as 7
The catch: You still have to put in the time. But that doesn’t mean it has to be hard.
Any amount of physical activity, from long walks at your normal pace to short “microdosing” bursts of vigorous effort, or even simply moving about doing regular household chores, improves physical and mental health and extends lives, a strong body of evidence now indicates.
But what if you cram all your activity into one or two days?
New research confirms that weekend warriors gain similar protection against cancer, heart disease and overall mortality. The only catch is you’ve got to put the time in.
The new analysis drew from data on 93,000 UK residents, ages 37 to 73, splitting them into three groups based on whether they achieved a threshold of 150 minutes weekly of moderate to vigorous physical activity, the sort that elevates heart rate and breathing, as in a brisk walk or during light yoga.
- Regular exercisers: Met the threshold, with activity spread over several days
- Weekend warriors: Met the threshold, with activity crammed into one or two days.
- Inactive: Didn’t meet the threshold.
