Weekend warriors: why a two-day blitz is as good as a week’s steady exercise

Name: Weekend warriors.

Age: You’re as young/old as you feel.

Appearance: Saturdays and Sundays.

Is this a battle re-enactment thing? Are people still doing that? Or have they all become preppers now? We should all become preppers now. But no. Weekend warriors are people who don’t exercise all week and then go nuts with it at the weekend.

That doesn’t sound wise. Experts agree with you. At least, they did until this week.

Really? How come? New research from Loughborough University appears to show that cramming all your exercise into two days has almost as much effect when it comes to lowering your risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease and death as spreading it out over the week.

Wow. First they change the recommendation about when to give babies peanuts, now this. I’m starting to feel a bit Govian about experts. Never go Govian. Channel Victoria Wood instead and hope that, if you hang around long enough, someone will put in a good word for wine gums.

Are they seriously saying that a two-day blitz is as good as a week’s steady exercise? That’s what this study of 63,000 adults between 1994 and 2012 suggests.

Crikey. It also found that the benefits of doing either is clear, even if you don’t meet the recommended overall amount of 150 minutes of moderate activity or 75 minutes of vigorous activity a week.

Does scrolling through Netflix count, by any chance? No.

I sometimes have to do it for a really long time. There’s nothing on. Still no.

By the time I’ve settled for Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23 again, my arm can ache like I’ve been doing pull-ups. NO.

Fine. It’s still good news. Yes. That said, the study’s senior author points out that, “for optimal health benefits from physical activity, it is always advisable to meet and exceed the physical activity recommendations”.

Actually, I think I’m just going to hang around here a bit longer waiting for news about wine gums. I feel as though we’re on a roll. As you and your furry arteries wish.

Do say: “I’m off to the gym!”

Don’t say: “Can you bring me a Wagon Wheel from the vending machine when you come back? Thanks.”

Weekend warriors: why a two-day blitz is as good as a week’s steady exercise

Final farewell for Stephen Sutton as two-day vigil ends

Stephen’s Story – the blog about his bid to full a bucket list of 46 “weird and superb things” just before he died – has now inspired a lot more than 170,000 men and women to donate to The Teenage Cancer Trust (TCT) from 94 distinct nations.

A record-breaking £4.one million has been provided to the campaign with donations continuing to be manufactured at a fee of £1,000 an hour.

In a final public service, the Dean of Lichfield described the public’s reaction to the teenager’s passing as a “phenomenal” show of human unity.

He added that Stephen, who was diagnosed with colorectal cancer aged just 15 and died on May possibly 14, had “become everybody’s favourite son around here”.

Stephen’s former headteacher, Stuart Jones, additional that there was “a collective pride” between all college students and personnel at the Staffordshire college who had spent time with the teenager.

^{A photograph of Stephen Sutton stands in Lichfield Cathedral (PA)}

The vigil, which was attended in excess of the two days by more than ten,000 individuals which includes comedian Jason Manford, is to be followed by the release of a charity record that will characteristic forty musicians inspired by the 19-12 months-old’s perform.

It will also contain a speech from Stephen that he had intended to use on his very own single, and the sound of him enjoying the tambourine.

Proceeds from the sale of the record will go to the (TCT), which has already acquired more than practically half of its annual funding by means of Stephen’s charity work.

Final farewell for Stephen Sutton as two-day vigil ends