Save gym for the weekend and beat 200 diseases: Study explains

Often people do not find time during the week to exercise. However, that’s no excuse to skip workouts altogether.

A recent study suggests that when we workout during the weekend, we strengthen the body to ward off diseases more effectively. It has been observed that people who are active during the weekend are at a better position to alleviate diseases than people who are completely inactive throughout the week.

The study, conducted by researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital, collected data from fitness trackers worn by 89,573 people from the UK. The participants were further divided into categories depending on their workout-active hours – weekend warriors, inactive and regular. Then the patterns of correlation between exercise and 678 conditions across 16 types of diseases were studied, covering mental health, digestive, and cardiovascular illnesses. The study was conducted for a span of six years.

According to the data received by the researchers, a third of the participants were categorised as inactive – they failed to adhere to the 150-minute per week routine of moderate to vigorous physical activity. A quarter of the participants were active – they did similar workout throughout the week. 42 percent of the participants were weekend warriors. It was observed that active participants and weekend warriors showed significant reduction in the risk of getting life-threatening diseases.

Benefits of weekend exercise:
The study demonstrated that weekend warriors – people who engaged in physical activity only during the weekends – showed lower risk of stroke, heart failure and irregular heart rhythms that can turn deadly.

Weekend warriors also demonstrated 38 percent less risk of heart failure, and 21 percent lesser risk of stroke, when compared to regularly active people who demonstrated 36 percent less risk of heart failure, and 17 percent less risk of stroke.

However, previous studies further pointed out that while weekend exercise is healthy, it is difficult to pack the entire workout routine into the two days of the weekend.