It can often seem impossible to try to juggle your career and social life while trying to stay fit and healthy.
But according to new research, doing just one weekly workout can be just as effective as hitting the gym every day.
Researchers in China say “weekend warriors” — people who engage in vigorous exercise just one or two days a week — experience similar mood-boosting benefits.
Scientists, who followed more than 75,000 Britons, found they reduced their chances of suffering from anxiety and depression by 28 percent, compared with those who were inactive.
Weekend warriors also saw a reduction in dementia risk of almost a quarter (23 percent).
Scientists, who followed more than 75,000 Britons, found they reduced their chances of suffering from anxiety and depression by 28 per cent compared with the inactive. The weekend warriors also saw their risk of dementia reduced by almost a quarter (23 per cent).
The academics behind the research said the results show that short bouts of intense exercise could even prove to be a “potential alternative in preventative intervention strategies.”
The researchers, from Hangzhou Normal University, analyzed data from 75,629 participants, average age 62, who wore wrist-worn digital devices similar to Apple Watches or Fitbits.
Nearly one-third (32.2 percent) were considered inactive, 28.2 percent participated in regular exercise and 39.6 percent were classified as weekend warriors.
This latest study involved people who exercised about 150 minutes or more per week, with at least 50 percent doing so on two days.
During a follow-up of 8 years on average, 530 people were diagnosed with dementia, 1,468 with stroke, 319 with Parkinson’s, 1,507 with depression and 1,794 with anxiety.
The scientists found that weekend warriors also reduced their chances of having a stroke by 13 percent and of developing Parkinson’s by almost half (49 percent) compared to those who were inactive.
Writing in the diary Natural agingThe scientists said: “Engaging in a weekend warrior pattern, characterized by concentrated bouts of high-volume, moderate to vigorous physical activity over a 1- to 2-day period, is associated with a similar risk reduction for brain disorders as the regular activity pattern.”
The researchers, however, acknowledged that the study had “several limitations,” including that it only included participants between the ages of 43 and 79.
“Caution should be taken when generalizing these findings to populations outside the specific age range, such as people aged 80 years or older,” they said.
Wrist-worn devices may also “not fully capture certain activities, such as stationary cycling, which could lead to inaccuracies,” they added.
Physical activity levels may also vary with age, and the study did not take into account changes in patterns over the volunteers’ lifetimes.
The World Health Organization (WHO) also recommends that adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week, or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise.
The sedentary lifestyle in the UK, where Britons spend their working hours sitting at their desk and then get on a train or in a car on the way home to sit in front of the television, is estimated to kill thousands of people every year.
A 2019 estimate put the annual death toll at 70,000 people a year and the resulting health problems cost the NHS £700m each year to treat.
A 2018 U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study estimated that nearly one in ten (8.3 percent) of adult deaths in the country were caused by physical inactivity.
The WHO estimates that the annual number of deaths worldwide due to physical inactivity is around 2 million per year, making it one of the top 10 causes of death and disability worldwide.
Physical inactivity has long been linked to health problems such as cardiovascular disease and also contributes to health problems such as obesity, which is linked to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes and some types of cancer.
Cardiovascular disease is generally associated with the buildup of fatty deposits inside the arteries that can lead to dangerous blockages that can trigger a heart attack or stroke.
Strokes are considered one of the leading causes of death and disability in the UK, killing around 38,000 people a year and leaving many more disabled.
In the United States, approximately 160,000 people die from stroke each year and one American has a stroke every 40 seconds, according to the CDC.