“Weekend Warrior” exercise improves health and lowers risk of death

Engaging in 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity over one to two days each week appears to improve health and lowers the risk of death, researchers report.

The findings appeared on April 2, 2025 in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

“You don’t need to exercise every day to stay healthy. As long as you get 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per week — whether packed into one to two days or spread out — you can significantly reduce your risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, cancer or other causes,” said study corresponding author Zhi-Hao Li, Ph.D., an epidemiologist in the School of Public Health at Southern Medical University in Guangzhou, China.

“This message is encouraging news for busy people who struggle to fit in daily workouts but can manage a concentrated burst of activity on weekends or over a couple of days,” Li added. “The research provides reassuring evidence that even sporadic physical activity can have lasting health benefits, making it easier for people to prioritize their well-being amid busy schedules.”

The investigators evaluated data on health and physical activity for more than 93,000 subjects in a large biomedical database in the U.K.

They used physical activity data collected from wrist accelerometers.

They assigned the subjects to three groups, “active weekend warrior” (those who completed most of their exercise in one or two days,) “active regular” (those who spread their activity throughout the week) and “inactive” (those who did not complete the recommended minimum of 150 minutes of weekly physical activity).

The researchers reported that compared to the inactive group, the weekend warrior and active regular groups achieved a significantly lower risk of death from all causes, cardiovascular disease and cancer if they completed 150 minutes of physical activity per week.

They also found that, for weekend warriors, the risk of death from all causes was 32% lower than for active regular exercisers, the risk of death from cardiovascular disease was 31% lower; and the risk of death from cancer was 21% lower.

Among subjects in the active regular group and compared to inactive subjects, the risk of death from all causes was 26% lower, the risk of death from cardiovascular disease was 24% lower and the risk of death from cancer was 13% lower.

There were no significant differences in the risk of death between the weekend warrior group and the active regular group.

While the findings were anticipated by prior research this study is the first to show the relationship between physical activity patterns measured by accelerometers and the risk of death from cardiovascular disease and cancer.

The investigators noted that they had not expected that weekend warrior physical activity would reduce the risk of death from disease.

“This reinforces the idea that meeting the 150-minutes of physical activity per week guideline is key to longevity, regardless of the activity pattern,” Li said. “Any activity — whether structured exercise such as jogging or daily tasks such as gardening — can be included if the intensity is moderate to vigorous.”