Scientists Reveal Weekend Exercise Is Just as Effective for Weight Loss

How often do you need to exercise to lose weight?

The World Health Organization recommends adults should partake in at least 150 minutes of moderate physical activity per week, or 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity. Not only is exercise helpful for weight loss, but it is beneficial for our heart and mental health.

The problem is, work and family obligations can make it difficult to fit in a daily workout during the week. Instead, many people choose to cram their weekly activity into one or two long sessions on the weekend. But is this kind of exercise schedule as good for us as a daily workout?

In a new study, published in the journal Obesity, researchers from China extracted data from more than 9,600 participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to assess whether weekend warriors could lose weight as effectively as those following a more regular exercise routine. The sample involved a range of adults aged between 20 to 59 years and was taken between 2011 and 2018.

Compared to inactive participants, both weekend warrior and regular exercisers had lower levels of abdominal fat, waist circumference, whole body fat mass and BMIs.

"People are struggling to catch up in their exercise plan in daily life to offset the hazard of a sedentary lifestyle but have less free time to get to the gym," Lihua Zhang, a health care scientist at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China, said in a statement. "Our study could offer them an alternative choice to keep fit."

As well as long stints at the gym, Zhang recommends climbing, hiking, cycling and running as suitable weekend activities. "The weekend warrior pattern is worth promoting in individuals who cannot meet the recommended frequency in current guidelines," Zhang said.

Commenting on the study, Beverly Tchang—an assistant professor of clinical medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York—said that the results reaffirm the belief that any activity is better than no activity. "Notably, the weekend warriors' workout was of higher intensity and longer duration, and more intensity and longer duration correlated with even lower abdominal fat," she said in a statement. "The main takeaway, though, is that people should be active in any manner that suits their lifestyle."

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