Weekend workouts proven just as beneficial as going several times a week
An English/Scottish Study that analysed the health of 60,000 participants found that the risk of death for weekend-only exercisers is basically the same as people who exercise several times throughout the week. What does that mean? It means that even if you only exercise twice over the weekend, you will reap the same benefits as those who exercise multiple times during the week.
Weekday exercisers reduced their risk of cardiovascular death by 41 per cent and their risk of cancer death by 21 per cent, compared to people who only workout on weekends, who reduced their risk of cardiovascular death by 40 per cent and cancer death by 20 per cent. The benefits are essentially the same, so you don’t have to feel guilty about hitting the gym over the weekend, then abandoning your fitness regime Monday to Friday.
According to Australia’s Department of Health, the average adult should aim for achieving two-and-a-half to five hours of moderate exercise per week, or one-and-a-quarter to two-and-a-half hours of vigorous exercise per week. Weekend warriors are generally people clocking in the one to two-and-a-half hours of high intensity exercise over the weekend, while weekday exercisers spread their five hours of moderate exercise over the entire week.
What’s the takeaway? Unless you’re clocking up more than two hours of high intensity exercise over the weekend, you should probably be aiming for three sessions a week of both moderate and high intensity activity.
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