While it is definitely proven that riding a bike brings amazing benefits to human health, there has long been a question about whether it is better to exercise a little every day, or go for a big burst at the weekend.
The advantage of the everyday method is that commuters who ride to work can productively use the time that they would otherwise wastefully spend sitting in a car or bus.
The weekend warriors on the other hand can ride socially with mates, charge up the hills, and communion with nature while getting the full physical benefit of strenuous activity.
Most of the research to date has looked at the benefits of regular physical activity, but now a study led by investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital has examined how the benefits of taking your recommended 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous in one big lump compares.
The investigators analysed information on 89,573 individuals in the prospective UK Biobank study who wore wrist accelerometers that recorded their total physical activity and time spent at different exercise intensities over one week.
Participants’ physical activity patterns were categorised as weekend warrior, regular, or inactive, using the guideline-based threshold of 150 minutes per week of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity.
The team then looked for associations between physical activity patterns and incidence of 678 conditions across 16 types of diseases, including mental health, digestive, neurological, and other categories.
The analyses revealed that weekend warrior and regular physical activity patterns were each associated with substantially lower risks of more than 250 diseases compared with inactivity.
Associations were strongest for cardiometabolic conditions such as hypertension (23% and 28% lower risks over a median of six years with weekend warrior and regular exercise, respectively) and diabetes (43% and 46% lower risks, respectively).
However, associations also spanned all disease categories tested.
“Here, we show the potential benefits of weekend warrior activity for risk not only of cardiovascular diseases, as we’ve shown in the past, but also future diseases spanning the whole spectrum, ranging from conditions like chronic kidney disease to mood disorders and beyond,” says co-senior author Shaan Khurshid, MD.
“Our findings were consistent across many different definitions of weekend warrior activity, as well as other thresholds used to categorise people as active."
The results suggest that physical activity is broadly beneficial for lowering the risk of future diseases, especially cardiometabolic conditions.
“Because there appears to be similar benefits for weekend warrior versus regular activity, it may be the total volume of activity, rather than the
pattern, that matters most,” says Khurshid.
“Future interventions testing the effectiveness of concentrated activity to improve public health are warranted, and patients should be encouraged to engage in guideline-adherent physical activity using any pattern that may work best for them.”
Or become our friend and subscribe to receive our fortnightly newsletter.