Today, tomorrow, learn English naturally. 天天自然学英语
Too busy for daily exercise? Study finds same benefits for ‘weekend warriors.’
Concentrating workouts tied to similarly lower heart disease and stroke risk
People for whom it’s difficult to find time to exercise during a busy work week may concentrate their moderate-to-vigorous physical activity to one to two days of the week or weekend.
In a recent analysis published in JAMA that was conducted by investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital, this “weekend warrior” pattern was associated with similarly lower risks of heart disease and stroke compared with more evenly distributed exercise.
Guidelines recommend at least 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per week for overall health, but it’s unclear if concentrated exercise can provide the same benefits as more evenly distributed activity.
“Our analysis represents the largest study to address this question,” says lead author Shaan Khurshid, a faculty member in the Demoulas Center for Cardiac Arrhythmias at MGH.
Khurshid and his colleagues examined data on 89,573 individuals in the prospective U.K. Biobank study who wore wrist accelerometers that recorded their total physical activity and time spent at different intensities for a full week.
Among participants, 33.7 percent were inactive (less than 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per week), 42.2 percent were active weekend warriors (at least 150 minutes with at least half achieved in one to two days), and 24 percent were active-regular (at least 150 minutes with most exercise spread out over several days).
After adjustments, both activity patterns were associated with similarly lower risks of heart attack (27 percent and 35 percent lower risks for active weekend warriors and active-regular, respectively, compared with inactive), heart failure (38 percent and 36 percent lower risks), atrial fibrillation (22 percent and 19 percent lower risks), and stroke (21 percent and 17 percent lower risks).
“Our findings suggest that interventions to increase physical activity, even when concentrated within a day or two each week, may improve cardiovascular outcomes,” says senior author Patrick T. Ellinor, acting chief of cardiology and the co-director of the Corrigan Minehan Heart Center at MGH.
The team also plans to assess whether weekend-warrior–type activity might be associated with reduced risks of a broader spectrum of diseases.
Additional co-authors include Mostafa A. Al-Alusi, Timothy W. Churchill, and J. Sawalla Guseh. This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health, the American Heart Association, the European Union, and the President and Fellows of Harvard College.
注释：
accelerometer: n
表示"加速度计"，means "an instrument for measuring the acceleration of aircraft or rockets"，如：This is the theory of a pendulum accelerometer. 摆式加速计的原理。
atrial: adj
表示"心房的"，means "of or relating to a cavity or chamber in the body (especially one of the upper chambers of the heart)"，如：Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common arrhythmia. 心房颤动是一种常见的心律失常。
fibrillation: n
表示"原纤维形成作用"，means "act or process of forming fibrils"，如：Atrial fibrillation is much more common than atrial flutter. 心房纤颤比心房扑动更为常见。
中文简要说明：
人人都知道运动有益健康，但许多忙碌的上班族做不到天天运动也是事实。周二（18日）发表于「美国医学会期刊」（JAMA）的一项大型研究结果指出，把1个星期的运动量集中到周末分成1到2天执行，降低心脏病、中风等心血管疾病风险的效果平分秋色。这对周间忙于工作、照顾孩子的民众而言是个好消息。
一般建议每周从市中度至高度体能活动的时间至少要150分钟，但外界好奇这150分钟集中于周末执行的效果是否等同于平均分摊于每天执行。英国《独立报》、美国《哈佛大学报》报导，美国麻州综合医院研究人员针对「英国人体生物数据库」（UK Biobank）将近9万人数据分析发现，效果差异不大。
研究人员说明，在针对上述疑问的研究之中，麻州综合医院本次与英国人体生物数据库合作的研究规模最大。结果显示，即使每个星期的中高强度运动集中在其中1到2天，仍可改善心血管的健康。
受试的8万9573人透过腕式传感器记录1周7天运动量、运动时间、运动强度。受测者之中，33.7%每周从事中强度、高强度运动时间不到150分钟，属于不积极运动者；42.2%则是活跃的「周末战士」（weekend warrior），每周运动起码150分钟，而且至少半数以上的运动时间集中在1到2天；24%则是规律运动者，每周运动150分钟起跳，运动时间平均分散于周间与周末。
经过年龄、性别、种族背景、烟酒习惯、职业状态、饮食质量等因素调校之后的心血管疾病风险显示，「周末战士」心脏病发风险比不积极运动的人降低27%、天天运动者降低35%；「周末战士」心脏衰竭风险降低38%、天天运动者降低36%；心房颤动（心律不整的一种）风险降低效果也相近，「周末战士」减少22%、天天运动者降低19%；中风则各减少21%、17%。
至于未来进一步研究方向，研究团队要探究「周末战士」运动习惯是否与其他更大范围的疾病罹患风险降低有关。
留言微信公众号《自然学英语LearnNaturally》，可咨询更多！