Exercising on the weekend can slash dementia threat by 25%, examine reveals

On Aug 21, 2024

By Emily Stearn, Health Reporter For Mailonline

Published: 10:29, 21 August 2024 | Updated: 10:46, 21 August 2024

It can often feel impossible trying to juggle a career and social life while trying to stay fit and healthy.

But only squeezing in one weekly workout can be as effective as hitting the gym every day, if new research is to be believed.

For researchers in China say ‘weekend warriors’ — people who undertake vigorous exercise over just one or two days per week — experience similar mood-boosting benefits.

The scientists, who tracked over 75,000 Brits, found they slashed their chance of anxiety and depression by 28 per cent compared to those who were inactive.

Weekend warriors also saw a reduction in dementia risk of almost a quarter (23 per cent).

The scientists, who tracked over 75,000 Brits, found they slashed their chance of anxiety and depression by 28 per cent compared to those who were inactive. Weekend warriors also saw a reduction in dementia risk of almost a quarter (23 per cent)

Academics behind the research said results show short bursts of intensive exercise could even prove a ‘potential alternative in preventive intervention strategies’.

The experts, from Hangzhou Normal University, analysed data from 75,629 participants, with an average age of 62, who wore digital wrist-worn devices similar to Apple watches or Fitbits.

Almost a third (32.2 per cent) were deemed to be inactive with 28.2 per cent partaking in regular exercise and 39.6 per cent classed as weekend warriors.

The latter involved people who got around 150 minutes or more of exercise per week with at least 50 per cent occurring within two days.

Over a follow-up of 8 years on average, 530 people were diagnosed with dementia, 1,468 with a stroke, 319 with Parkinson’s, 1,507 with depression and 1,794 with anxiety.

Scientists found weekend warriors also slashed their chance of a stroke by 13 per cent and Parkinson’s by almost half (49 per cent) compared to those who were inactive.

HOW MUCH EXERCISE YOU NEED

To stay healthy, adults aged 19 to 64 should try to be active daily and should do:

at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity such as cycling or brisk walking every week and

strength exercises on 2 or more days a week that work all the major muscles (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders and arms)

Or:

75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity such as running or a game of singles tennis every week and

strength exercises on 2 or more days a week that work all the major muscles (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders and arms)

Or:

a mix of moderate and vigorous aerobic activity every week – for example, 2 x 30-minute runs plus 30 minutes of brisk walking equates to 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity and

strength exercises on 2 or more days a week that work all the major muscles (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders and arms)

A good rule is that 1 minute of vigorous activity provides the same health benefits as 2 minutes of moderate activity.

One way to do your recommended 150 minutes of weekly physical activity is to do 30 minutes on 5 days every week.

All adults should also break up long periods of sitting with light activity.

Writing in the journal Nature Aging, the scientists said: ‘Engaging in a weekend warrior pattern, characterized by concentrated bouts of high-volume moderate to vigorous physical activity within 1 to 2 days, is associated with a similar risk reduction for brain disorders as the regularly active pattern.’

The researchers, however, acknowledged the study had ‘several limitations’, including only involving participants aged between 43 and 79.

‘Caution should be exercised in generalizing these findings to population outside the specific age range, such as individuals aged 80 years and above,’ they said.

The wrist-worn devices may also ‘not fully capture certain activities, such as stationary cycling, potentially leading to inaccuracies’, they added.

Physical activity levels could too vary with age and the study did not account for changes in patterns over the entire lifespan of volunteers.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) also recommends adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise a week — or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise.

Sedentary lifestyles in the UK, with Brits spending their workhours deskbound, then sitting in a train or car on their way home to sit down in front of the TV, have been estimated to kill thousands each year.

One 2019 estimate put the annual death toll at 70,000 people a year with the health issues caused costing the NHS £700million each year to treat.

A US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study in 2018 estimated almost one in 10 (8.3 per cent) of adult deaths in the country were caused by physical inactivity.

The WHO puts the annual global death toll from physical inactivity at around 2million per year, making it in the running to be among the top 10 leading causes of global death and disability.

Physical inactivity has been long linked to health problems like cardiovascular disease as well contributing to health problems like obesity, itself linked to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes and some cancers.

Cardiovascular disease is usually associated with the build-up of fatty deposits inside the arteries that can lead to dangerous blockages that can trigger a heart attack or stroke.

Stokes are considered a leading cause of both death and disability in the UK, killing about 38,000 people per year and disabling many more.

In the US an estimated 160,000 people die from strokes every year with one American suffering a stroke every 40 seconds, according to the CDC.

China Apple