If you’ve got a packed schedule during the week and squeeze in your workouts over the weekend, you might be curious if that strategy is enough for your heart health. Is living the weekend warrior lifestyle truly adequate for reaping the health perks linked to exercise? And more importantly, does it help protect your heart?
Researchers found that staying moderately active for just a few minutes on a regular basis can significantly reduce the risk of heart attacks, strokes, and other heart-related events. Interestingly, those who incorporated more incidental activities—like doing housework—showed even greater health benefits! So, moving your body is definitely a way to protect your heart.
With this backdrop, a new study aimed to examine if swinging into action just on weekends impacts the risk of heart disease among folks with type 2 diabetes. Here’s what the research uncovered.
The Study
Published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, this study reviewed health and exercise data provided by nearly 52,000 people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). Participants were sorted into four groups:
- Group One consisted of individuals not engaging in any physical activity.
- Group Two included those who accumulated less than 150 minutes of moderate to high-intensity exercise weekly.
- Group Three characterized the weekend warriors who managed at least 150 minutes of exercise in one or two sessions over the weekend.
- Group Four represented those with regular activity, completing under the same guidelines while splitting workouts over three or more sessions.
The Findings
The results were quite revealing:
- Weekend warriors substantially lowered their risk of dying from heart disease compared to inactive individuals in Group One.
- All physically active groups (two, three, and four) boasted decreased chances of dying from heart issues or other causes compared to the completely inactive Group One.
- The weekend warriors enjoyed a 21% reduction in overall mortality risk and a staggering 33% lower risk of dying from heart disease compared to their inactive peers.
- As for the consistently active folks in Group Four, they faced a 17% lower chance of dying from any cause and a 19% drop in the risk of death due to heart disease compared to Group One.
In Conclusion
The takeaway? Even if you’re packing your workouts into just one or two sessions over the weekend, this study illustrates that you’re already doing something good for your heart. Regular physical activity can improve inflammation and help control blood sugar levels among those living with type 2 diabetes. Importantly, the study centered on individuals who managed to hit that recognized 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per week.
The researchers emphasized that any amount of exercise is better than none. Finding a way to fit activity into your busy life in a manner that suits you is essential. If you ramp up to that 150-minute goal with moderate to vigorous intensity, there are plentiful heart health benefits waiting for you!
