Can’t find time to exercise during the workweek? Scientists have good news for you.

Evidence is piling up that condensing your exercise into just one or two days a week — being a “weekend warrior” — is enough to reap the many benefits of physical activity. The latest such study, published in Circulation, shows a weekend warrior routine can ward off a long list of serious illnesses. The exercise pattern was linked with a lower risk of 264 diseases and appeared to be just as effective at reducing risk as more frequent exercise spread throughout the week.

Most of the diseases studied affected the heart and blood vessels — atherosclerosis, heart attack, heart failure, diabetes, stroke — but researchers found that the benefit extended to a surprising range of conditions. “It was encouraging to see strong associations with chronic kidney disease,” said Shaan Khurshid, MD, MPH, lead author of the study and a cardiac electrophysiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital. “We also saw the association with sleep apnea, and even things like gallstones and heartburn. These all make sense but had not been previously shown to this level of detail.” The “weekend warrior” concept is nothing new. In fact, the term dates back to the 1930s, referring to a military reservist who attends weekend meetings of their unit. By the 1980s, the name had expanded to include people who participate in strenuous activity part-time or only on weekends.

But today, the concept is drawing more scientific attention as the subject of a mounting body of impressive research that promises greater flexibility in how you choose to achieve your workouts.

In the new study, researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital analyzed the data of 89,573 people from the UK Biobank, a group of relatively healthy middle-aged to older adults in the U.K. Participants wore accelerometers on their wrists that recorded their physical activity for one week.

The scientists looked at the data and classified people into three groups: regular exercisers who worked out several times a week; weekend warriors, who got at least half of their exercise in one or two days; and inactive people, those who got less than the U.S.-recommended 150 minutes of moderate activity a week. Compared to the inactive people, both the regular exercisers and weekend warriors had much lower risks of disease.

Technically, the regular exercisers had slightly better results — for example, 28% lower risk of high blood pressure compared to 23% for the weekend warriors, and 46% less risk for diabetes compared to 43%. But the differences weren’t big enough to be scientifically meaningful, leading the researchers to conclude that total exercise is what’s important for reducing disease risk, not how often you do it or how you split it up.

Another 2024 trial in Nature Aging found that weekend warriors had a 26% lower risk of dementia, 21% less risk of stroke, and a 45% reduction in the chance of developing Parkinson’s disease than inactive people. Like the newer study, the data set was also massive at more than 75,000 people. Also this year, the weekend warrior pattern was shown to be just as effective as more frequent exercise for fat loss, helping people lose belly fat regardless of dietary changes.

In 2022, a study following more than 350,000 Americans concluded there were no significant differences in mortality rates for weekend warriors versus regular exercisers.