Fewer Weekend Warriors Than Expected

More and more health groups are advising people to get the right amount of physical activity and exercise. This is set at 30 minutes each day. The activity should be of moderate-intensity. This means it should be intense enough to increase your heart rate. You should break out into a slight sweat.

But what about the weekend warrior? Is it enough to get in four or five hours of activity in one or two days to offset an inactive work week? In this study, researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) take a look at the weekend warriors.

First, they used two national surveys to identify how many people fall into the category of weekend warrior. A weekend warrior was defined as anyone who reported at least 150 minutes of physical activity. That activity is moderate in intensity (or more). And it's done on one or two days of the week.

They found about one to three per cent of the adults could be called weekend warriors. The age group most commonly in this category was 45 to 64 years old. Men were more likely to be weekend warriors than women. They said juggling families (children and parents) and work requirements just didn't leave enough time to exercise every day.

The authors expected to find a higher number of people defined as weekend warriors than they did in this study. They reported some major problems with the research methods and advised that further studies should be done.

Future research should focus on identifying any benefits there may be of low-intensity activities compared to more strenuous levels. A survey with more specific questions would be helpful.

References: Judy Kruger, PhD, et al. Characteristics of a Weekend Warrior: Results from Two National Surveys. In Medicine & Scinece in Sports & Exercise. May 2007. Vol. 39. No. 5. Pp. 796-800.

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