Longer weekend workouts provide same benefits as weekly routines: study

CTV News

29-05-2025

A study from the University of Calgary found that two-day periods of high-intensity exercise provide the same benefit as regular regimens of at least four days of exercise per week. (Pexels/Victor Freitas)
If you struggle to fit time at the gym into your busy schedule, new research suggests you might enjoy just as many benefits from a different routine.
Scientists at the University of Calgary say that just two days' worth of high-intensity exercise – better known as a 'weekend warrior workout' – has the same fitness benefit as four-day workout routines.
The results came from a study of 28 adults (14 men and 14 women), with sedentary to recreationally active lifestyles, randomly assigned to eight weeks of supervised training.
The participants were either given a high frequency exercise plan over four days or a longer sessions over a two-day period.
'Over the course of our study, we saw no drop off in fitness benefits from only working out two days a week versus four,' said Dr. Martin MacInnis, associate professor at the U of C's faculty of kinesiology and lead of the study.
'The key is the intensity and volume have to remain the same.'
MacInnis and his team, led by Thomas Tripp, a PhD student who is now a postdoc at Queen's University, found that if you have a busy schedule, you can 'make it up on the weekend.'
The study is a 'proof of concept', MacInnis said, showing that both groups of participants enjoyed increased cardiorespiratory fitness, blood volume, skeletal muscle mitochondria content, fatigue resistance and exercise performance.
Future studies aim to explore if a training on a reduced frequency is effective for populations with clinical conditions.
The team's study was published in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports.