Things that make you think, “Hmm?” A new survey showed that weekend exercise is enough for good health. The results are in. You can get the same benefits as someone who works out often. That’s fantastic news! Since fitness is not for everyone, it is essential to establish a baseline for good health and disease prevention. Although the benefits are equal, a few aspects must be addressed.

The Research

A few studies have been done based on the health and disease of weekend warrior workouts.

The most recent weekend warrior study found a lower mortality rate of 8%, lower CVD mortality of 13%, and lower cancer mortality of 6%.

Another study found a lower mortality rate of 30%, a lower CVD mortality of 41%, and lower cancer mortality of 13% compared to sedentary people.

The recommended minimum amount of exercise is 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise. The required number of days is at least two consecutive days or spread out over the week.

The Disadvantage of the Weekend Warrior

Firstly, there is no such idea as bad exercise. However, exercise is most effective when it is intelligent, realistic, consistent, thought-out, and methodical. Exercise creates the best prevention through consistency and adaptation.

1. Sitting too much during the week creates misalignment, poor posture, and imbalanced muscle tension- leading to dysfunctional movement. And dysfunctional movement leads to muscle strain, pain, and injury. So, when you go for that run or fitness class, it does more harm than good.

2. Only training on weekends can cause overtraining. But one must understand to attain good health, acclimation and gradual stimulation are the keys. What’s really missing is recovery. Recovery is a big part of training. And, if you are exercising moderately or vigorously, you will need a day in-between to recover and maximize the result.

3. On the weekend, many situations can come up. So, you are more likely to blow it off.

4. Focusing on weight loss or strength will not get you the desired results.

Advantages of Weekly Workouts

Spreading out exercise three to four times during the week is best. However, here are the benefits of exercising more than two days a week.

• Better for sustainable energy.
• It helps to relieve stress.
• Excellent for mental health, happiness, and feeling good every day.
• Prevents and controls diabetes, heart disease, and blood pressure.
• Offsets the detrimental effects of sitting 4-8 hours a day.
• Less risk of developing dementia and depression.
• Improves sleep patterns.

What’s most essential to many of the folks I’ve trained for 25 years was helping them schedule exercise into their daily routine. For example, arranging sessions during their lunch break or before going home, go to the gym.

Spreading out exercise 3-4 times a week demonstrated to clients that they could lose weight, feel energized, and be more productive throughout the week. And instead of eating a large lunch, they ate less since they were not so hungry after exercising. Furthermore, feeling good and positive after a 20-30-minute workout three times a week promoted better and more conscious healthier food choices.

That is what fitness does to your mind when it is done more consistently. It changes how you think and feel for the best. People who regularly exercise lead a better quality of life, mentally, physically, and emotionally. So why wait just for the weekend to experience such excellent benefits?

Weekend Warrior Recommendations

Think Gradual

Before beginning any vigorous exercise, do about four weeks of moderate activity. You cannot manually shift a car from 1st to 5th gear. You must gradually gain speed to go faster. Your body needs to do the same- adapt and adjust progressively to more intense bouts of exercise. It is safer for your health and heart and better to prevent injury.

Comorbidity Caution

Furthermore, if you have a comorbidity, like heart disease, too much exercise intensity can be detrimentally consolidated into two consecutive days, especially if it is vigorous. Exercise is essential to prevent disease and injury, but you must be careful that it does not create or exacerbate something.

Don’t Overtrain

Quality and quantity matter, but quantity must be positive, productive, and effective. A cup can only contain so much water before it begins to overflow. And your body can only work out so much before it becomes overtraining. And if you are just doing it on the weekends, and sit around all week, don’t throw caution to the wind.

KISS

Keep It So Simple, and you will benefit dramatically.

Weekend Warrior Program

So, if you want to be a weekend warrior, learn to do it correctly. Here is a sample workout to get started.

On Saturday, do a 20-minute cardio session and use it as a warm-up before doing strength training for your upper body. For example, group and do lat pull for one set, then shoulder presses after lat pull. After completing that grouping, group back rows, and chest press and do the same for 3-5 sets and 5-8 reps. Agonist and antagonist training is a quick and excellent way to develop and maintain strength.

On Sunday do the same as Saturday. Run for 20 minutes, then do lower body training. Perform deadlifts, leg presses or squats, and alternating lunges for 3-5 sets of 5-8 reps.

After four weeks, you can add a HIIT training day. HIIT requires a day of recovery between training days. But doing it once on the weekend will help!

Try to Spread it Out

No matter how busy you are, finding 20-30 minutes daily to care for your health is not difficult. Think of it as a necessity. I always say, no one is that busy to neglect their health. It is just about putting it into your routine.