I’ve written how exercise is critical for our physical and mental health- including controlling obesity. And, that it seems walking 6 miles a week is a pretty functional way to achieve the desired long term results. Most of the research is based upon exercising several days a week (5 days, every other day, etc.)
But, it may be possible that those of us who just work out weekends may obtain the same benefits. 150 minutes of moderate exercise in one day- or 75 minutes over two may be all it takes.
Drs. Garry O’Donovan (Loughborough), I-Min Lee (Harvard), Mark Hamer (Loughborough) , and Emmanuel Stamatakis (University of Sydney) published results from their studies in JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) Internal Medicine. They found that “weekend warriors” had lower risks of death from cardiovascular disease and cancer, among other maladies.
Using the data from 63,591 adults (over the years 1994 through 2012, average age of 59), they sought out the weekend warrior types. Of the 8802 deaths from all causes, the results for the weekend warriors were reduced by 30%, compared to those who did not exercise. Of the 2780 cardiovascular deaths, the drop was 40%, but it was only 18% lower among the 2526 cancer deaths.
However, weekend warriors who didn’t reach that 150 minute threshold had no advantage over the “inactive” adults. Frequency was not a critical factor- just that 150 minute duration. (Note that those who spread their exercise over three or more days had slightly better results- 41% and 21%, respectively.) Moreover, one’s BMI (body-mass index) did not seem to override these results.
Keep in mind though that some 90% of the subjects were white- and the duration of physical activity was self-reported. And, longevity studies are only able to determine correlation- there is no proof of causality.
But, still, that 150 threshold seems to find itself to be true in an awful lot of studies.
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I do exceed the 150 minute threshold most weeks but I don’t do the strength training I know I need to do.
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That is a wise observation, Alana. If we use walking as our exercise, that doesn’t develop our upper body strength. It’s why I went back to swimming- and use a variety of strokes, to get as many muscles involved as possible. (Biking involves more body areas than walking, but not like swimming.)