Exercising Once Weekly Still Effective For Weight LossA recent study has revealed that people who exercise just once a week can lose weight as long as they follow the guidelines recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO). WHO says that adults should perform at least 150 minutes per week of moderate physical activity or 75 minutes per week of vigorous physical activity for weight loss. A lot of people have weight loss as their goal, however, they are unable to achieve it due to time constraints. A study published in the journal Obesity found that people who condense their exercise into just Saturday and/or Sunday can lose the same amount of weight as those who exercise every day, as long as they meet the recommendations set out by the WHO.Dr. Beverly Tchang, Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York in a press release said, “On a high level, this study reaffirms the old adage about physical activity and health: any activity is better than no activity. The main takeaway, though, is that people should be active in any manner that suits their lifestyle.”The team say that their findings will be beneficial for those who sit for most of the day, especially bus drivers, taxi drivers or those who work in offices. Corresponding author Lihua Zhang, a healthcare scientist at Fuwai Hospital and professor at Peking Union Medical College in Beijing, China said, “The weekend warrior pattern is worth promoting in individuals who cannot meet the recommended frequency in current guidelines.“These people are struggling to catch up in their exercise plans in daily life to offset the hazard of a sedentary lifestyle but have less free time to get to the gym. Our study could offer them an alternative choice to keep fit.”For the study, the team took data from more than 9,600 participants between the age of 20 and 59 years, who took part in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 2011 and 2018. They assessed the participants’ abdominal and general fat using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry a non-invasive body composition scan and other measurements such as BMI. Then, they examined how these correlated with physical activity levels using data from three groups; inactive, weekend warriors and regularly active. The study defines weekend warriors as those who concentrate their physical activity in one or two sessions per week. The results show that ‘weekend warriors’ and the regularly active participants have lower abdominal and body fat, smaller waist circumferences and lower BMIs. Dr Beverly Tchang, Assistant Professor at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York, US, said, “On a high level, this study reaffirms the old adage about physical activity and health: any activity is better than no activity.“Notably, the weekend warriors’ workout was of higher intensity and longer duration, and more intensity and longer duration correlated with even lower abdominal fat. But the main takeaway is that people should be active in any manner that suits their lifestyle.”Prof Zhang added, “All types of exercise are welcome, whether that be running, hiking, cycling, climbing, or other options.”
https://www.timesnownews.com/health/weight-loss/study-reveals-exercising-once-weekly-still-effective-for-weight-loss-article-107888902
