Exercising even once a week is better than not, says Expert

Worried about not being able to work out daily? Exercising even once a week is better than no physical activity, said a Hyderabad-based neurologist.

The doctor, popular on X platform, said this on the social media platform along with a recent study on the benefits of people doing physical activity only on weekends - known as weekend warriors.

“Too busy to exercise on a regular basis? Exercise only on weekends to derive similar mortality benefits,” he wrote on X.

The study, published in a medical journal, followed more than 1.5 lakh adults for about two decades.

The findings showed that people who exercised once or twice per week had a 15% lower risk of death, similar to those who worked out on 3 or more days per week.

However, the benefit was evident only when the duration of exercise sessions was at least 30-60 min.

“The results suggest that even busy adults could benefit from taking part in one or two sessions of exercise per week,” said the researchers of the study from a University in Colombia.

“Exercise as often as you can: exercising even once a week is better than not exercising. Ensure that the exercise session is of 30-60 minute duration,” said the doctor from Hyderabad.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends “at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity throughout the week”.

In an earlier post, the doctor vouched for a “combination of aerobic exercises and strength training”.

“It may be better to combine aerobic exercises (on 2-3 days a week), and strength training (on 2-3 days a week) (with one rest day per week), for optimum benefits,” the neurologist said.

(Source: IANS)

- Edited for style

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