{"id":14925,"date":"2025-07-22T07:35:15","date_gmt":"2025-07-22T07:35:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/14925\/"},"modified":"2025-07-22T07:35:15","modified_gmt":"2025-07-22T07:35:15","slug":"weekend-warrior-activity-may-reduce-death-risk-by-33","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/14925\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Weekend warrior’ activity may reduce death risk by 33%"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AShare on Pinterest<\/a>Exercising, even a little, can have profound effects on heart health and overall health. Gary Hershorn\/Getty ImagesResearch has shown that physical exercise can help increase insulin sensitivity and help regulate blood sugar more effectively in people with diabetes.A new study found that people with diabetes who meet current physical activity recommendations through either regular physical activity or a \u201cweekend warrior\u201d type of format have a reduced risk for both all-cause mortality and cardiovascular-related mortality, compared to people who do not exercise.Scientists also found that study participants who were insufficiently active still had a lower risk for all-cause and heart disease-related mortality than those who were completely inactive. <\/p>\n

Of that number, more than 95%<\/a> of diabetes cases are type 2 diabetes<\/a>, which is a condition a person develops, compared to type 1 diabetes<\/a> where a person is born with the disease. People who have obesity, have certain conditions like high blood pressure<\/a>, and who are not physically active are at a high risk of developing type 2 diabetes. <\/p>\n

\u201cPeople with type 2 diabetes still face a significantly elevated risk of cardiovascular mortality, which is the leading cause of death among this high-risk population,\u201d Zhiyuan Wu, PhD<\/a>, postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health, told Medical News Today. \u201cWhile medication treatments are effective, lifestyle modifications \u2014 such as increasing and optimizing physical activity recommendations \u2014 are also essential for risk reduction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wu is the first author of a new study recently published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine<\/a> that has found people with diabetes who meet current physical activity recommendations through either regular physical activity or a \u201cweekend warrior\u201d type of format have a reduced risk for both all-cause mortality and cardiovascular-related mortality, compared to people who do not exercise.<\/p>\n

Scientists also found that study participants who were insufficiently active still had a lower risk for all-cause and heart disease-related mortality than those who were inactive. <\/p>\n

For this study, researchers analyzed health data from more than 51,000 study participants with self-declared diabetes and an average age of about 60 from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS)<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Study participants were broken into four categories based on their moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA):<\/p>\n

Regularly active with 150 minutes or more of exercise per week over three or more sessions. \u201cWeekend warriors\u201d with 150 minutes or more of exercise per week completed in one or two sessions.Insufficiently active with less than 150 minutes per week.Inactive with reporting no MVPA during the week. <\/p>\n

The American Diabetes Association\u2019s (ADA) current recommendations<\/a> are at least 150 minutes of MVPA per week. <\/p>\n

Examples of MVPA include jogging, brisk walking, dancing, hiking uphill, and playing basketball or football. <\/p>\n

At the study\u2019s conclusion, researchers found that \u201cweekend warriors\u201d had a 21% lower all-cause mortality risk and 33% lower cardiovascular mortality risk when compared to inactive participants. <\/p>\n

Study participants who were regularly active had a 17% lower all-cause mortality risk and 19% lower risk of cardiovascular mortality, when compared to those who did not exercise regularly.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe found that \u2018weekend warriors\u2019 had similar reductions in all-cause and cardiovascular mortality as those who exercised more regularly, as long as they reached the recommended weekly MVPA amount,\u201d Wu explained. \u201cThis is important because many people struggle to meet current exercise guidelines that recommend activity spread over multiple days per week.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn fact, adherence to current guidelines is under 50%<\/a> among this population,\u201d he continued. \u201cOur findings suggest that a more flexible approach \u2014 like doing 150 minutes of exercise just on weekends \u2014 can still provide comparable health benefits and may be easier to stick with for people with busy schedules \u2014 demanding work schedules, family responsibilities, or limited access to safe and convenient exercise facilities nearby.\u201d <\/p>\n

Wu and his team also found that even participants who were insufficiently active still had a lower all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, when compared to inactive participants. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur findings show that any amount of physical activity is better than none,\u201d Wu said. \u201cEven participants who didn\u2019t meet the recommended exercise goals still had a lower risk of death compared to those who were completely inactive.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an encouraging message for people with type 2 diabetes: you don\u2019t have to be perfect to benefit,\u201d he continued. \u201cSimply starting to move \u2014 even in small amounts \u2014 can make a meaningful difference in your long-term health.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe next step is to validate these findings using objective measures of physical activity, such as wearable devices or digital health apps, instead of relying on self-reported questionnaires,\u201d Wu added. \u201cAnd look into the biological mechanisms, such as host metabolites<\/a> and proteins, to help explain the similar benefits observed for regular active and \u2018weekend warriors\u2019 patterns.\u201d<\/p>\n

MNT spoke with Cheng-Han Chen, MD<\/a>, a board certified interventional cardiologist and medical director of the Structural Heart Program at MemorialCare Saddleback Medical Center in Laguna Hills, CA, about this study. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis prospective cohort study found that exercising at least 150 minutes per week over one to two sessions was associated with a 33% lower risk of cardiovascular mortality in patients with diabetes,\u201d Chen commented. \u201cThese results highlight the importance of incorporating physical activity into one\u2019s lifestyle in order to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, especially in people with other known risk factors such as diabetes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Diabetes and heart health<\/p>\n

\u201cCardiovascular disease is currently the leading cause of death in people with diabetes. It is imperative that we tackle all modifiable risk factors in order to better control the terrible burden that this condition has on our society. We should make all public health efforts to promote regular physical activity in our population.\u201d
\u2014 Cheng-Han Chen, MD<\/p>\n

MNT also talked to Aaron Feingold, MD<\/a>, chair of cardiology at JFK University Medical Center in New Jersey, about this research. He commented that his first reaction was one of cautious optimism and practical excitement. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe finding that weekend warriors \u2014 those who concentrate their 150+ minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity into just 1-2 sessions per week \u2014 achieved nearly equivalent mortality benefits to those exercising regularly throughout the week is genuinely practice-changing. This challenges the conventional wisdom that exercise must be spread evenly across the week to be maximally beneficial.\u201d
\u2014 Aaron Feingold, MD<\/p>\n

\u201cFor my patients with diabetes who struggle with time constraints, work schedules, or other barriers to frequent exercise, this provides compelling evidence that concentrated weekend activity can still deliver substantial cardiovascular protection, he continued. \u201cMany of my patients express that they simply cannot find time for regular daily exercise due to work, family obligations, or other commitments. By demonstrating that flexible, concentrated exercise patterns can provide similar mortality benefits, we\u2019re expanding the toolkit of evidence-based interventions that can realistically fit into patients\u2019 lives.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cThis research is crucial because cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death in patients with diabetes, accounting for approximately 65% of deaths<\/a> in this population,\u201d Feingold added. \u201cWhat makes this study particularly valuable is that it addresses real-world barriers to exercise adherence. This is especially important given that lifestyle modifications like physical activity are often more accessible and have fewer side effects than pharmacological interventions.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Share on PinterestExercising, even a little, can have profound effects on heart health and overall health. Gary Hershorn\/Getty…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14926,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[6647,102,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-14925","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-fitness","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14925"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14925\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}