Are you aged between 19 and 64? The UK’s National Health Service recommends that you do at least 150 minutes of “moderate to vigorous” physical exercise, spread evenly across each week, not to mention strengthening activities that work all the major muscle groups at least twice a week too. But what if, between Monday to Friday, your main exercise consists of brief dashes to the water cooler, and the repeated lifting of your laptop lid?
Researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital have recently conducted the largest study to date into what happens if you cram this exercise into just two days of the week – if you are, in other words, a “weekend warrior” or a “Saturday stroller” (depending on how you see yourself).
Their analysis published in The Journal of the American Medical Association is a beacon of hope for the overworked and overstretched. Those who spread their activity across the week lower their risk of a heart attack by 35 per cent, but weekend warriors diminish theirs by a comparable 27 per cent. Stroke risk reduced by 21 per cent for weekend warriors, and 17 per cent for those who were regularly active. The groups also had a similarly lower risk of musculoskeletal conditions.
“I usually work well into the evenings during the week and I find it difficult to be disciplined enough to go to the gym at, say, 8pm,” says Garin Dowd, a 58-year-old university professor from London. Since 2019 he has worked out every weekend instead with a trainer. On one day, he will do a high-intensity indoor cycling session for between 60 and 90 minutes. On the other, a 60-75 minute TRX session (standing for Total Body Resistance Exercise) followed, if time permits, by a yoga session.
This approach, he says: “quickly delivered tangible results; I began to feel stronger and fitter”. Today, he feels more agile, has more stamina, and because his regime has been carefully designed, he does not believe he is any less fit or healthy than he would be if he were able to spread his exercise across the week.
So if, like Dowd, your schedule leaves you with just the weekend in which to squeeze in your fitness activities, what is the best way to go about it?
Remember to tick off both cardio and resistance
“If your goal is to exercise for general health, then you need to cover two forms of exercise: cardio and resistance training,” says Dr Michael Graham, senior lecturer in sport and exercise at Teeside University.
Cardio, he explains, is an aerobic activity that raises your heart rate and makes you breathe faster – “anything from brisk walking to running or cycling”. In exercising your heart and lungs this way, you are “helping to prevent a wide variety of health conditions, from high blood pressure to type-two diabetes and heart disease”.
Resistance training, on the other hand, is “anything that involves using your muscular strength to move or generate force against an object”, Graham says. You might immediately think of hefting weights at the gym, but bodyweight exercises, such as planks and push-ups, do the job just as well. This sort of exercise improves your muscle strength and tone, maintains your balance and, in building stronger, denser bones, helps fight osteoporosis.
If covering both sounds like a mammoth task, do not panic: “We need to move away from the concept of having to go to the gym and engage in a really structured, formal programme of activities, because a lot of people are put off by that environment, or feel they don’t have time to get there,” Graham says.
There are plenty of other ways to fit these exercises into your weekend without too much disruption.
Warm up on the dog walk, or pick up the papers
First, however: don’t forget to warm up. If you have been desk-bound all week, your body may need extra TLC before launching into vigorous activity.
“We need a good, dynamic warm-up,” says Graham. Static stretches will not cut it – a lot more movement is required – but you can tick off this phase of your routine almost without thinking. Taking the dog for a morning walk, or going to get the paper? “Start walking gently, speed things up, then maybe work in some star-jumps, walking lunges or step-ups on the stairs when you get home,” he suggests.
Tick off your ‘moderate cardio’ without trying
All activity can be classified into five “heart-rate zones”. Zone one is the lowest in intensity (think restorative yoga). Zones three and above are increasingly hard work (running, spin classes, etc).
Zone two, however, is a sweet spot where you are operating at around 60-70 per cent of your maximum heart rate. For some, this might be an energetic walk, for others, a comfortable cycle or run (depending on your base fitness). You are not out of breath and can easily hold a conversation, but the activity strengthens your heart and lungs, burns fat and improves your ability to complete higher-intensity workouts.
Simply upping the pace on the return leg of your dog walk, or walking briskly to the shops instead of taking the bus, could all accomplish the “moderate” component of your 150 minutes of “moderate to vigorous activity”, Graham suggests.
Break it up
“Variety and enjoyment are key, your exercise needs to not feel like a chore,” says Graham. This is, after all, the weekend. Punish yourself with cardio exercises you loathe and you are unlikely to stick with the programme. So break your 150 minutes of cardio into shorter, more manageable activities across the 48 hours.
Cycle on Saturday, organise a game of tennis on Sunday, take the kids to the pool. This regime has health benefits too.
“The aim, for improved health, is to be more active,” says Graham, “but also to spend less time being sedentary.” Sitting for long periods is thought to slow the metabolism, damaging the body’s ability to regulate blood sugar, blood pressure and break down body fat. Scattering exercise across the weekend mitigates that risk.
Go green
“There’s lots of research suggesting that when individuals perform their exercise outside or with others, the improvements in mental health go beyond those of people who exercise inside,” says Graham. So social outdoor activities like chasing the kids in the park or cycling and hiking with friends not only count, they may even prove more beneficial than a solo gym session.
Still too time-consuming? Work harder and shorter
“The guidelines specify 150 minutes if you’re mixing moderate and vigorous intensity exercise,” says Graham. “But if you were to concentrate on vigorous activity only, then you need to only be aiming for a minimum of 75 minutes to get similar benefits.” Unsure whether your activity qualified? You should be breathing hard and fast.
Work your chores into your resistance regime
Sounds too much like hard work? “Traditionally, when we talk about resistance training, people tend to think about lifting heavy weights in the gym, but it could also be lifting or moving objects at home or in the garden repeatedly,” says Graham.
Everyone’s baseline fitness and fitness goals are different. For some, gardening activities would count: “Turning over a border in your garden, ready to plant new flowers – it’s a repetitive action where you meet resistance, so done repeatedly, you’d see the benefits.”
If you want to work harder, you can still work smarter. “The weekend-warrior model is about being more efficient with your time,” says Graham. Compound exercises such as squats, bench presses and pull-ups work multiple muscle groups at once. Plus: “With larger muscle masses being used, we also expend more energy, so burn more calories.” It’s a weekend win-win.
The perfect weekend fitness regime
“Whilst not the ideal scenario, if you can only exercise on weekends, don’t be disheartened,” says Matt Roberts, an exercise expert. “There’s a lot you can achieve in this time.”
Saturday morning, first thing
Between 45 and 90 minutes of zone-two cardio, walking at a semi-moderate pace. For those who are fitter, this could also be a slow to steady-paced run for 45-60 minutes.
Mid-morning
Time for your resistance work. On Sunday you will do “pull” work, so today is a “push” mix – exercises, in other words, that involve pushing.
You want to alternate between upper and lower body exercises. So you might do 10 to 12 heavy squats (depending on your fitness level), rest for 15 seconds, then do the same number of chest-presses. Do this three times, then rest for 60 to 180 seconds.
Then move on to the next set of push exercises. A split squat lunge, followed by a pec fly (a strength training exercise based on the free weight chest fly), for example, using the same structure of sets, reps and rest times. In all, you should be working for between 45 and 60 minutes.
Afternoon
If you are super-healthy and want to push further, schedule some high-intensity interval training. Do 20-30 seconds on a rowing or ski-erg machine (like a stand-up rowing machine), followed by a 90-second rest in between. Repeat between six and 10 times.
Sunday morning
Start with resistance today, doing “pull” exercises this time to work your muscles differently. Alternate between deadlifts and lat pulldowns (working the latissimus dorsi, the largest muscle in the back) then hamstring curls and seated rowing with rest times as on Saturday.
Afternoon
A longer, more sustained cardio session. Whether it’s running, cycling or tennis, push yourself to about 70 per cent this time, for 40 minutes minimum.