Being a so-called weekend warrior when it comes to exercise might be just as good for you as exercising more throughout the week.
Regularly committing to one or two sessions of physical activity on the weekend may lower your risk of cognitive decline by the same amount as more frequent exercise through the rest of the week, according to a new paper in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
The weekend warrior lifestyle may also be more convenient for people with busy schedules, providing a more achievable fitness routine.
"The number of people living with dementia is predicted to increase from around 57 million cases globally in 2019 to around 153 million cases in 2050," the researchers wrote in the paper.
They continued: "The proportion of people living with the condition is predicted to increase by around 75 percent in the UK and other countries in Western Europe and by around 200 percent in Mexico and other countries in Latin America."
Dementia is a general term used to describe a decline in cognitive function caused by damage to or loss of nerve cells in the brain. Alzheimer's disease, the most common type, involves the buildup of protein plaques and tangles in the brain.
Dementia is typically progressive, worsening over time. Early symptoms might include forgetting names or appointments, while advanced stages involve severe memory loss, confusion, difficulty with language and loss of independence.
The most significant risk factor for cognitive decline and dementia is age. Diet, alcohol, smoking, head injuries, sleep, exercise and social isolation have also been found to be risk factors.
The researchers wrote: "Cognitive impairment often leads to dementia and it is important to identify modifiable risk factors because a 5-year delay in onset might halve the prevalence of dementia. However, nearly all the evidence about potentially modifiable risk factors for cognitive impairment comes from studies in high-income countries," the researchers wrote.
Using a dataset from Mexico City from between 1998 and 2004, and another from between 2015 and 2019, the researchers analyzed how exercise habits were linked with cognitive decline. They categorized the participants into four groups: non-exercisers, weekend warriors who exercised once or twice per week, people who exercised several times per week and a mixed group of both exerciser categories.
Of the people who were later found to have mild cognitive impairment, 26 percent were non-exercisers, 14 percent were weekend warriors, and 18.5 percent were regularly active.
When taking into account other factors, such as age, smoking, sleep, diet and alcohol consumption, the researchers found that weekend warriors were 25 percent less likely to develop mild cognitive impairment than the non-exercisers, while the regularly active were 11 percent less likely to develop mild cognitive impairment.
Using an alternate threshold for mild cognitive impairment, the researchers found that weekend warriors were 13 percent less likely to develop mild cognitive impairment than the non-exercisers, while the regularly active participants were 12 percent less likely.
"We found that around 10 percent of cases would be eliminated if all middle-aged adults were to take part in sport or exercise once or twice per week or more often," the researchers wrote. "To the best of our knowledge, this is the first prospective cohort study to show that the weekend warrior physical activity pattern is associated with reduced risk of mild dementia."
However, this is only an observational study, meaning that it doesn't necessarily mean that exercise truly affects the risk of cognitive decline. Regardless, the findings are important for people trying to reduce any dementia risk factors.
"This study has important implications for policy and practice because the
weekend warrior physical activity pattern may be a more convenient option for busy people around the world," the researchers wrote.
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