If you can't fit exercise into your hectic weekly schedule, don't worry. Researchers say that "weekend warriors"- those who pack their physical activity into one or two days of the week, typically on the weekend can still reap the same brain health benefits of a regularly active pattern.
Earlier studies have shown that compensating for lack of physical activity during the week by exercising during weekends will help to meet weight loss goals. However, the brain health benefits of the weekend warrior exercise pattern compared to other activity patterns remain unclear.
A recent study explored the link between different patterns of physical activity and the risk for neurological conditions such as Parkinson's disease, dementia, stroke, and mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety.
"We find that the weekend warrior pattern is associated with similarly lower risks of dementia, stroke, Parkinson's disease, depressive disorders, and anxiety compared to a regularly active pattern," the researchers wrote in the study published in Nature Aging.
The current guidelines recommend moderate to high physical activity for at least 150 minutes each week for health benefits. In the latest study, researchers used data from accelerometers to estimate the physical activity levels of 75,629 participants from the UK Biobank.
Based on their activity levels, participants were grouped into three: inactive (less than 150 minutes per week of moderate to vigorous physical activity), weekend warriors (150 minutes or more per week with over 50 percent of the activity occurring within one to two days), and regularly active (150 minutes or more per week, but not concentrated in one to two days).
The participants were followed for an average of 8.4 years, during which the incidence of dementia, Parkinson's disease, stroke, and other psychological disorders were tracked.
The results suggest that weekend warriors had a 23% reduced risk of dementia, 13% reduced chances for stroke, 49% less likelihood for Parkinson's disease, 26% for depression, and 28% for anxiety disorder compared to the inactive group. The findings were made after adjusting for health and lifestyle factors.
"Our findings highlight the weekend warrior pattern as a potential alternative in preventive intervention strategies, particularly for those unable to maintain daily activity routines," the researchers concluded.
