Just two workouts a week could cut heart death risk by 33% in diabetics
All-cause mortality risk lowered when persons with diabetes engage in any amount of physical activity.
- Date:
- July 24, 2025
- Source:
- American College of Physicians
- Summary:
- Even if you're cramming your workouts into the weekend, you might be doing your heart a big favor—especially if you have diabetes. A large study of over 50,000 adults with diabetes found that both “weekend warriors” and those who spread out their exercise during the week saw significant reductions in all-cause and cardiovascular mortality risks. Surprisingly, the pattern of exercise didn’t matter as long as the total time met current health guidelines. That means squeezing in your 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity over one or two days can be just as beneficial as spreading it out over several sessions.
- Share:
A prospective cohort study examined the associations of different physical activity patterns with all-cause, cardiovascular (CV) and cancer mortality among adults with diabetes. The study found that weekend warrior and regular activity patterns meeting current physical activity recommendations were associated with similarly reduced risks for all-cause and cardiovascular mortality compared to physical inactivity, demonstrating the importance of any physical activity for people with diabetes. The results are published in Annals of Internal Medicine.
Researchers from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston University School of Public Health, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Capital Medical University, and colleagues studied data from 51,650 adults with self-reported diabetes who participated in the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) between 1997 and 2018. Current guidelines recommend at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) distributed across a minimum of three days. Participants were categorized into four activity patterns: inactive (no reported MVPA); insufficiently active (MVPA less than 150 minutes per week); weekend warrior (MVPA 150 or more minutes per week across one to two sessions); and regularly active (MVPA 150 or more minutes per week across at least three sessions).
The researchers found that insufficiently active, weekend warrior, and regularly active participants had lower risks for all-cause and cardiovascular mortality compared to inactive participants. Weekend warriors and regularly active participants had a 21% and 17% lower all-cause mortality risk and 33% and 19% lower risks of cardiovascular mortality, respectively, compared with inactive participants. There were fewer differences by cancer mortality compared with physical inactivity.
Story Source:
Materials provided by American College of Physicians. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
Journal Reference:
- Zhiyuan Wu, Chen Sheng, Zheng Guo, Yulu Zheng, Deqiang Zheng, Xia Li, Xiuhua Guo, Haibin Li. Association of Weekend Warrior and Other Physical Activity Patterns With Mortality Among Adults With Diabetes. Annals of Internal Medicine, 2025; DOI: 10.7326/ANNALS-25-00640
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