The Importance of Exercise for Heart Health
Exercise has long been recognized as a crucial factor in maintaining good health, especially when it comes to protecting against heart disease. The question that often arises is how much exercise is necessary and how should it be distributed throughout the week? Current guidelines recommend a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise per week to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and death. However, these guidelines do not specify how those hours should be divided.
A new study has shed some light on this matter and offers encouraging news for those who engage in concentrated exercise on weekends, often referred to as “weekend warriors.” The study, conducted by researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital, aimed to examine whether the pattern of exercise (regular throughout the week versus concentrated in 1-2 days) impacts its effectiveness in improving cardiovascular health.
To conduct the study, the researchers used data from the UK Biobank, a large biomedical database that contains detailed health and genetic information on half a million UK residents. They studied 89,573 participants, whose average age was 62, and monitored their physical activity levels for one week using a wrist-worn device. The participants were classified into three groups: active weekend warriors (those who completed at least 150 minutes of exercise over 1-2 days), active-regular (the same amount of exercise spread over more time), and idle (less than 150 minutes of exercise).
The participants were followed for a median of 6.3 years to determine if they developed any heart-related problems, including atrial fibrillation, heart attack, heart failure, and stroke. After adjusting for other factors that could affect the risk of developing these conditions, such as age, gender, racial/ethnic background, tobacco use, diet, and self-reported health, the researchers found that both patterns of exercise were associated with a lower risk of heart problems.
Specifically, the study found that active weekend warriors had a 25% lower risk of heart attack, a 38% lower risk of heart failure, a 22% lower risk of atrial fibrillation, and a 21% lower risk of stroke compared to those who were idle. Similarly, the active-regular group had a 35% lower risk of heart attack, a 36% lower risk of heart failure, a 19% lower risk of atrial fibrillation, and a 17% lower risk of stroke.
These findings suggest that the volume of exercise, rather than the specific pattern, is what matters most when it comes to improving cardiovascular health. This is good news for individuals who struggle to find time to exercise during the busy workweek and rely on concentrated workouts on weekends. However, it’s important to note that incorporating daily exercise into one’s routine is still ideal for reaping the full benefits.
While some individuals may view the “2-day option” as a convenient substitute, it is essential to prioritize incorporating exercise into daily life rather than relying solely on weekend workouts. Waiting until the weekend to exercise can make it more difficult to establish a consistent routine and may result in inconsistency or a reduced frequency of exercise. It’s crucial to find time for physical activity throughout the week, even if it means starting with small increments and gradually increasing the duration and intensity of workouts.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that only 28% of American adults meet the recommended exercise goals. One of the primary reasons for this is a lack of time due to busy schedules. The results of this study offer hope to individuals in this situation, as they highlight the importance of accumulating physical activity throughout the week in different ways. Every minute counts, especially for the three-quarters of American adults who fall short of the recommended exercise goals.
In conclusion, this study provides compelling evidence that exercise, whether distributed regularly throughout the week or concentrated on weekends, is beneficial for heart health. The volume of exercise, rather than the specific pattern, plays a crucial role in reducing the risk of heart problems. While concentrated weekend workouts can be a viable option for those with limited time, it is still advisable to aim for daily exercise whenever possible. A consistent exercise routine is key to maintaining optimal cardiovascular health and overall well-being. So, take the time to prioritize physical activity in your daily life and enjoy the long-term benefits it brings.
Summary:
A study conducted by researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital examined whether the pattern of exercise (regular throughout the week versus concentrated in 1-2 days) impacts its effectiveness in improving cardiovascular health. The study found that both patterns of exercise were associated with a lower risk of heart problems. Active weekend warriors had a 25% lower risk of heart attack, a 38% lower risk of heart failure, a 22% lower risk of atrial fibrillation, and a 21% lower risk of stroke compared to those who were idle. The active-regular group showed similar benefits. These findings indicate that the volume of exercise, rather than the specific pattern, is what matters most for cardiovascular health. While concentrated weekend workouts can be beneficial, it is still important to incorporate daily exercise into one’s routine for optimal results. The study highlights the importance of accumulating physical activity throughout the week, especially for individuals with busy schedules. Only 28% of American adults meet the recommended exercise goals, emphasizing the need to prioritize physical activity and find ways to incorporate exercise into daily life.
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July 19, 2023 – It is well known that exercise is beneficial for health and, in particular, protects against heart disease. But how much exercise should people get? And how should they distribute their exercise time?
Current guidelines (such as those of the World Health Organization and the American Heart Association) recommend at least 150 minutes (2.5 hours) of moderate to vigorous exercise per week to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and death, but these guidelines do not specify how those hours should be divided. He The UK National Health Service recommends distributing the exercise evenly over 4 to 5 days, or doing a few every day.
The question is whether exercise is as helpful if it is concentrated in 1-2 days, sometimes called a “weekend warrior” pattern because many people who can’t exercise during the busy work week can find time to do so on the weekend. of week.
A new study has encouraging news for weekend warriors: It’s the amount of exercise, not the pattern of exercise, that counts, even if workouts aren’t spread evenly throughout the week.
Improvement of cardiovascular risk
The study’s lead author, Shaan Khurshid, MD, MPH, an instructor of medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, shared the researchers’ motivation for conducting the study.
“The weekend warrior pattern has been studied previously, but it is generally based on self-reported data, which may be skewed or too small to look at specific cardiovascular outcomes,” Khurshid said. The researchers wanted a more objective measure of how much exercise people were getting, and they also wanted to investigate the question in a much larger sample.
To do so, they studied 89,573 participants in the UK Biobank, a huge biomedical database and research resource that has detailed health and genetic information on half a million UK residents.
The average age of the participants was 62 years, and just over half were women. For 1 week, the participants wore a wrist-worn device that recorded their total physical activity, as well as the amount of time they spent at different levels of exercise intensity.
The researchers compared three exercise patterns:
- Active Weekend Warrior (at least 150 minutes of light to moderate physical activity, with the full amount of exercise over 1 to 2 days)
- Active-regular (the same amount of exercise, but spread over more time)
- Idle (less than 150 minutes).
“We saw an opportunity to take advantage of the largest sample of activity measured to date to more definitively address the question of whether the pattern of activity affects specific major cardiovascular diseases differently,” Khurshid said.
Participants were followed for a median of 6.3 years to see if they had developed one of four types of heart problems: atrial fibrillation, heart attack, heart failure and stroke.
Just over a third of the participants (33.7%) were classified as inactive, while close to a fifth (24%) were regularly active. The highest percentage (42.2%) were active weekend warriors.
After adjusting for other factors that may affect the risk of developing heart problems (such as age, gender, racial/ethnic background, tobacco use, and quality of diet and self-reported health), the researchers found that both patterns of exercise were associated with a lower risk of developing these conditions:
- Heart Attack: 25% lower for active weekend warriors, 35% lower for regular active
- Heart failure: 38% lower for active weekend warriors, 36% lower for active regulars
- Atrial Fibrillation: 22% less for Active Weekend Warriors, 19% less for Regular Active
- Stroke: 21% lower for Active Weekend Warriors, 17% lower for Active Regulars
“The bottom line is that efforts to optimize activity, even if focused on just one or two days per week, should result in better cardiovascular risk profiles,” Khurshid said.
keep good habits
Pinchas King, a 53-year-old publisher from Passaic, NJ, exercises regularly.
“I try to work out every day on a treadmill and start with high-intensity exercise,” she said.
King practices for many reasons. “It gives me continuous energy and also has multiple health benefits, such as preventing cancer, heart disease and neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s,” he said.
He considers himself lucky to be able to fit exercise into a regular routine, but realizes that many people can’t do it. “The results of this study sound good and for those people who don’t have time during the week [to exercise]the study is useful,” he said.
But he expressed concern that people who already have an exercise regimen spread throughout the week “might kick that good habit and put off exercising until the weekend, and then maybe not or less than often.” recommended quantity”. .”
King sees the “2-day option” as a “good substitute when needed,” for example, if you’ve been sick or been particularly busy and couldn’t exercise in a given week. “But I think it’s better that people find time to incorporate exercise into their daily lives because waiting until the weekend can make implementation difficult.”
‘Every minute counts’
According to the CDC, only 28% of American adults get the amount of exercise recommended by the guidelines.
One of the reasons many people don’t get enough exercise is that their busy schedule doesn’t leave them time. Peter Katzmarzyk, PhD, associate executive director of population sciences and public health at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, LA, said the study findings are encouraging for people in this situation.
“These results are important because they point out that physical activity can be accumulated throughout the week in different ways, opening up more options for busy people to get active,” said Katzmarzyk, co-author of an accompanying editorial in the journal As he writes, “every minute counts,” especially among the three-quarters of American adults who don’t meet the recommended exercise goal.
Khurshid agrees. “Patients should be encouraged to achieve recommended activity levels and should not be discouraged if, for whatever reason, they can only focus on exercise on just 1 or a few days of the week,” he said. “Instead, our findings suggest that it is the volume of activity, rather than the pattern, that matters most.”
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