Regular Exercise Even Though Only At The End Of The Week Can Reduce Disease Risks, This Is The Proof

Illustration of sports benefits (Freepic)

JAKARTA - Spending time on weekends for sports seems to have many health benefits, one of which can help reduce the risk of disease.

Yes, even though it is only done on weekends, the benefits of sports can still be felt for those who do it rather than not exercising at all.

This fact has been proven by studies conducted by researchers from the Massachusetts General Hospital by taking data from the Biobank UK, which has more than 500,000 health information.

The average age of these participants is 62 years and less than two-thirds are women. Participants were monitored for an average of more than six years. Individuals are divided into three categories, namely inactive, weekend fighters, and regular sportsmen.

Inactivated groups do not meet the minimum weekly physical activity recommendations, weekend fighters meet the recommended weekly exercise numbers, but do so in a day or two (not necessarily on weekends).

The findings suggest that doing physical activity within a day or two may be as effective in reducing the risk of disease as those who carry out physical activity for a week, and that applies to more than 200 diseases.

Compared to inactive groups, the most significant relationship between sport and reduced risk of disease is for conditions of circulation, metabolism, and digestion.

In particular, groups exercising on weekends have a lower risk of hypertension of 23 percent and 28 percent lower for those exercising regularly. In addition, the risk of diabetes has also fallen 43 percent for those exercising on weekends and 46 percent lower for those exercising regularly.

"Because there seems to be the same benefits for weekend fighters compared to routine activity, perhaps the total volume of activity, not the pattern, which is most important," said senior researcher Shaan Khurshid, MD, MPH, a faculty member at the Demoulas Center for Cardiac Arrhythmias at Massachusetts General Hospital., as quoted by Eating Well.

The study shows, regardless of how many days spent each week, during moderate or severe physical activity in the minimum amount, it can reduce the risk to hundreds of health conditions.

"In future interventions that test the effectiveness of concentrated activity to improve public health are needed, and patients should be encouraged to engage in physical activity that adheres to guidelines using any pattern that is most suitable for them," he added. (Ant)