Most of us live our lives on a metaphorical treadmill, ploughing through the list of things we must do to stay well each day. Wake up, make sure to drink one or two glasses of water, exercise for 45 minutes, eat a healthy, protein-rich breakfast, and finally embark upon the day (which likely involves a whole other, work-related to-do list).
Photo: Greg Adamski. Vogue Arabia, July/August 2024
Happily, a new study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine has found that those who exercise once or twice a week at weekends (rather than throughout the week), are not only less likely to succumb to mild dementia than those who are totally inactive, but also those who exercise regularly (who were found to have an 11 per cent lower risk than inactive participants).
It’s well known that exercise helps fend off disease, from cardiovascular issues to type 2 diabetes, cancer, depression and dementia – studies show it can lower your risk of early death by up to 30 per cent. But we’re often told we need to be moving a lot, and daily, in order to achieve long-lasting benefits. While being totally sedentary is obviously not good for us – so moving in some capacity each day is key – this research (which analysed over 10,000 participants) suggests that doing exercise in a “concentrated” fashion, like the “weekend warriors” surveyed, can be effective in staving off illness as we get older.
The results are “good news for busy people around the world”, says Dr Gary O’Donovan, the lead author of the study, who has also undertaken other research into the “weekend warrior” lifestyle. “It’s now becoming increasingly clear that the benefits of exercising once or twice a week are much the same as exercising more often,” he adds.
This isn’t the only research that suggests that we can exercise intermittently and still reap the mental and physical rewards of it. A 2023 Harvard study, in which researchers analysed the fitness and health data from nearly 90,000 people, found that the weekend warriors – who did all of their week’s exercise in one or two days – had a lower risk of heart failure, stroke and heart attacks, than those who didn’t exercise at all. And crucially, the results were similar to those who exercised throughout the week too.
So, whether it’s running, swimming, cycling or Pilates, the moral of the tale is that if you can’t squeeze it all into your week, don’t worry – there’s no need to. Simply prioritise two days (which can be the weekend, or any other time in the week that suits you) in which you move your body for a couple of hours each day for better health. Make working out work for you.
Originally published on Vogue.co.uk
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