When weekend workouts will do
For some people, proper daily workouts are nearly impossible to fit in. There’s not enough time in the morning before work. Lunchtime’s a no go: you can’t do a real workout and shower within a standard 30-minute break. Getting to the gym between leaving the office and dinnertime is too tight, too, what with unforeseen work issues, commutes and errands.
So you become a weekend warrior. Every Saturday and Sunday, you charge through 90-minute yoga classes, sweat it out on hill runs, play games of tennis, or cycle around your favourite landscape.
As far as your health is concerned, just how effective is this for you?
New evidence from Loughborough University in the UK suggests that it’s possible to remain as healthy doing 150 minutes of moderate exercise (or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise) in two days as it is spreading those minutes over a whole week.
Technically, that means two 75-minute walks (at moderate intensity, such as uphill) will give you the same benefit as five 30-minute walks at the same pace.
That benefit is specific only to overall health (not weight loss).
During the Loughborough study (which surveyed 63,591 adults over 18 years), those that met the 150 minutes per week exercise requirements had a 35 per cent reduction in mortality rates than inactive people, and weekend warriors had a 30 per cent reduction.
Similarly, weekend warriors saw 40 per cent reductions in cardiovascular deaths, and 18 per cent reductions in cancer deaths (41 per cent and 21 per cent reductions, respectively, were observed in those who exercise most days).
As far as keeping your body in shape goes, the science is less promising for the weekend warrior routine.
The American College of Sports Medicine maintains that cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness cannot be maintained in less than two days per week, as there’s not sufficient stimulus for the body.
Exercise scientists at Rutgers University in New Jersey found there’s a big difference between exercising twice a week and working out three times.
While twice a week is definably better than a sedentary lifestyle, a structured exercise programme may require more sessions to stimulate the metabolic system.
‘‘[With] two days per week, you don’t get much change,’’ said Rutgers University exercise scientist Shawn Arent.
‘‘In terms of resistance training – [you should do it] two to five days per week, it depends on the level you’re at, in terms of how advanced you are and how you train your body. Early on we can get pretty good gains in kids and older adults with two days per week, but we still want to progress them pretty quickly to three or four days per week.’’
Other research looks favourably at a two days a week regimen, but it’s limited to those who are exercise beginners.
In a study of usually-inactive women aged 60-74 by the University of Alabama at Birmingham, those who worked out twice a week (over a fourmonth period) became just as physically powerful and aerobically fit as those who worked out six times per week over that period.
However – and this is a big however – previously sedentary participants who exercised four times a week during those four months were burning far more calories (225 more each day) than both the two-day and the six-daya-week exercisers.
University of Alabama at Birmingham researchers believe six days a week is too arduous physically and mentally, especially for those not used to it, and a balance between two and four days a week sees more energised, physically capable exercisers. If you have more energy throughout the week, you can simply do your workout sessions efficiently and effectively.
Importantly, this study found that those who worked out too much also undertook less ad-hoc exercise – they drove instead of walking, took lifts instead of stairs, and so on – throughout the fourmonth observation. Such a reduction in informal exercise seemingly affects one’s overall fitness.
Looking at the evidence, therefore, weekend warrior-type exercise will be beneficial for your mortality rate, and might give you some early fitness gains if you’ve never exercised before.
The general signs still point to three or four days a week for optimal health, fitness and calorieburning results, however.