Kamal Ghorui
Deadlines at work, responsibilities back home. A week where you could hardly keep track of the day. Sounds like your week? And in between work and other obligations, you hardly had time for fitness. Perhaps the most athletic move was reaching for your coffee mug! Now, as the weekend approaches, you plan to lace up your trainers and hit the gym. The question is: does it actually work? Let’s find out:
Meet the ‘weekend warriors ’
‘Weekend warriors’ are those who squeeze their entire week’s physical activity into one or two days. They had no time for fitness throughout the week. But they somehow want to make up for it. So, they put on their running shoes and hit the track, or head to gym, and sweat it out. More and more people are following this workout pattern. They don’t want to sacrifice their health, and in order to compensate for their sedentary behaviour throughout the week, they work out intensely during the weekend.
Does it work
There is no doubt that people become weekend warriors to compensate for the lost days of workout. But the question really is – does it work? Turns out it does. Research has become increasingly kind to the weekend warrior approach.A study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association in 2025 showed that weekend warriors get similar health and life-extending benefits as those exercising regularly throughout the week. But there is a catch. Weekend warriors only get similar health benefits if the activity is a moderate to vigorous workout of at least 150 minutes per week.“You don’t need to exercise every day to stay healthy. As long as you get 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per week — whether packed into one to two days or spread out — you can significantly reduce your risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, cancer or other causes,” study corresponding author Zhi-Hao Li, Ph.D., an epidemiologist in the School of Public Health at Southern Medical University in Guangzhou, China, said. “This message is encouraging news for busy people who struggle to fit in daily workouts but can manage a concentrated burst of activity on weekends or over a couple of days. The research provides reassuring evidence that even sporadic physical activity can have lasting health benefits, making it easier for people to prioritize their well-being amid busy schedules,” Li added. Another study by the researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital found that weekend warriors’ physical activity protects against more than 200 diseases. “Physical activity is known to affect the risk of many diseases. Here, we show the potential benefits of weekend warrior activity for risk not only of cardiovascular diseases, as we’ve shown in the past, but also future diseases spanning the whole spectrum, ranging from conditions like chronic kidney disease to mood disorders and beyond,” co-senior author Shaan Khurshid, MD, MPH, a faculty member in the Demoulas Center for Cardiac Arrhythmias at Massachusetts General Hospital said. The study is published in Circulation. Another study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine in 2024 found that weekend warriors have a lower risk of cognitive decline, which can often precede dementia, with more frequent sessions.“For example, exercise may increase brain-derived neurotrophic factor concentrations [molecules that support the growth and survival of neurons] and brain plasticity. Physical activity is also associated with greater brain volume, greater executive function, and greater memory. To the best of our knowledge, the present study is the first prospective cohort study to show that the weekend warrior physical activity pattern and the regularly active physical activity pattern are associated with similar reductions in the risk of mild dementia,” the researchers said in a release. So, the good news is, even if you don’t have time during the weekdays, try being the weekend warrior; it can still help you meet your fitness goals.
