Revealed: How often you should exercise to beat 200 diseases, according to study READ MORE: Experts reveal key to rapid results in the gym By Emma Nelson For Mailonline Published: 09:52, 26 September 2024 | Updated: 10:14, 26 September 2024 e-mail View comments Don't have enough time to workout during the week? Researchers have discovered you'll reap the health benefits from exercise if you save the gym for the weekend. Data collected from fitness trackers worn by more than 89,000 people showed those who reserved their NHS-recommended 150 weekly active minutes for the weekend cut their risk of 264 diseases. Experts in the US found so-called 'weekend warriors' were up to 43 per cent less likely to be diagnosed with diabetes and 23 per cent less likely to develop high blood pressure, compared to inactive people.
The findings suggest 'it may be the total volume of activity, rather than the pattern, that matters most,' according to Dr Shaan Khurshid, researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital and co-author of the study. US researchers tracked data from 89,000 fitness trackers to acertain the wearers' risk of developing hundreds of diseases over the next six years. For the study, a team at the Massachusetts General Hospital analysed physical activity information on 89,573 people from the UK who wore fitness trackers for a week.
Participants’ physical activity patterns were categorised as weekend warrior, regular, or inactive, using the NHS guideline of 150 minutes per week of .
