A recent study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine explored the impact that exercise can have on the risk of mild dementia.
The study was based on this premise: do consumers need to have a daily exercise regimen, or can being a “weekend warrior” do enough for cognitive health?
Ultimately, the researchers found that exercising once or twice a week could be as effective as daily exercise for lowering the risk of mild dementia.
“To the best of our knowledge, the present study is the first prospective cohort study to show that the weekend warrior physical activity pattern and the regularly active physical activity pattern are associated with similar reductions in the risk of mild dementia,” the researchers explained.
Understanding the benefits of exercise
For the study, the researchers analyzed two sets of data from the Mexico City Prospective Study – the first was between 1998 and 2004, and the second was between 2015 and 2019. Over 10,000 people completed the surveys during both periods, and each round of the survey had different goals.
In the first round, participants answered questions about their regular exercise habits. Then, at the time of the second study, the participants completed the Mini Mental State Exam (MMSE) to determine their cognitive function.
Participants were then divided into four groups based on their exercise frequency – those who didn’t exercise, those who exercised once or twice a week (weekend warriors), those who exercised three or more times a week, and a combination of weekend warriors and regular exercisers.
When looking at the scores from the MMSE and the exercise responses, weekend warriors were 13% less likely to develop mild dementia, and both regular exercisers and participants in the combined group were 12% less likely to develop mild dementia.
While this was an observational study, the researchers believe there is important information to be taken away from these findings.
The results “have important implications for policy and practice because the weekend warrior physical activity pattern may be a more convenient option for busy people in Latin America and elsewhere,” they explained.