Weekend-only exercise helps reduce risk of heart disease, MGH study finds

BOSTON - If it's hard to find time to exercise during the week, saving your workouts for the weekend may provide the same heart benefit.

It's often recommended that we try to get 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity five days a week, totaling 150 minutes, to reduce heart disease risk, but a new study finds that you may get the same benefit if you only exercise on the weekend.

A team at Massachusetts General Hospital analyzed data from the activity trackers worn by nearly 90,000 individuals and found that those who achieved 150 minutes or more of physical activity over one to two days enjoyed similarly lower risks of cardiovascular disease including heart attack and stroke compared to those who distributed their workouts more evenly throughout the week.

In:
• Health
• Massachusetts General Hospital
• Exercise

Mallika Marshall, MD

Mallika Marshall, MD is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and physician who has served as the HealthWatch Reporter for CBS Boston/WBZ-TV for over 20 years. A practicing physician Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Marshall serves on staff at Harvard Medical School and practices at Massachusetts General Hospital at the MGH Chelsea Urgent Care and the MGH Revere Health Center, where she is currently working on the frontlines caring for patients with COVID-19. She is also a host and contributing editor for Harvard Health Publications (HHP), the publishing division of Harvard Medical School.

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