The effect is the same: scientists equated weekly training with daily training

 Researchers have long established that 12 minutes of intensive sports per day reduces the probability of death from heart disease by 19-25%. However, many do not manage to carve out this time during the day. There is good news: it turns out that training only on weekends has the same effect.

It is known from scientific works that 150-300 minutes of sports per week (moderate and high intensity) reduce the probability of death from cardiovascular diseases by a quarter - and this is exactly the type of exercise recommended by the WHO. But this is 21-43 minutes a day, which is not suitable for all working people. However, experts from the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) found that the risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke decreases even with a lower level of activity. For example, when training once or twice a week or only on weekends. Doctors published the study in The Journal of the American Medical Association, UAINFO.org informs.

A team of researchers from MGH studied data from 89,573 participants of the British Biobank, who for seven days wore accelerometers on their wrists, which record total physical activity, time spent on it and intensity. This is the largest analysis to examine whether "concentrated" exercise can provide the same benefits as more evenly distributed exercise, said lead author Dr. Shaan Khurshid.

In the study, a third of the participants were inactive - the duration of moderate and high-intensity training was less than 150 minutes per week; 42% of the subjects were included in the subgroup of "weekend fighters" — they reached or exceeded the minimum threshold of 150 minutes of physical activity per week, of which at least half were for one or two days. Another 24% of participants were regularly active and also played sports for at least 150 minutes a week, but trained daily.

After adjusting the obtained results, it turned out that the participants of both active subgroups are characterized by a reduced level of risk of cardiovascular diseases compared to inactive people. So, the probability of a heart attack in "weekend fighters" was 27% lower, and in those who regularly do sports - by 35%. For heart failure, atrial fibrillation, and stroke, the risk reductions were 38% and 36%, 22% and 19%, and 21% and 17%, respectively. It turns out that for these health problems, training only on weekends is even better.

Thus, physical activity once or twice a week has a positive effect on the cardiovascular system of people - even if not as much as daily exercise.

Doctors at the Massachusetts General Hospital plan to conduct additional studies to evaluate whether activities such as "weekend warriors" can have an effect on reducing the risk of other diseases.