Welcome to Straight Talk on Health. I’m your host Dr. Chet Zelasko. Straight Talk on Health is a joint production with WGVU in Grand Rapids MI. I examine the practical application of health information. Nutrition. Exercise. Diet. Supplementation. I look at the science behind them, and let you know whether it’s something to consider or not. You can check out other things that I do on my website Drchet.com and sign up for my free emails.
What’s better for your health – being a weekend warrior or working out according to established guidelines? The major component of the guidelines is more than150 minutes of moderate to intense exercise a week spread out over most days of the week. Turns out, they are both effective but let’s take a closer look.
This observational study used data collected on close to 90,000 subjects who wore an accelerometer for a week sometime between 2013 and 2015. They were tracked for at least 6 years. The UK Biobank data are connected to the medical records of all persons in the UK. They tracked the diagnosis of over 678 conditions. Researchers compared those who exceeded the minimum of 150 minutes of moderate to intense exercise, either over a weekend or stretched over a week, with those who exercised fewer minutes.
The weekend warriors had reduced Hazard Ratios for 264 conditions and regular activity had 205 reduced HR. Does that mean that the WW approach is better? Not at all—it just means there more significant HR. When compared head to head, there were no conditions where the WW and the regular activity exercisers differed. Most of the benefits were associated with cardiometabolic metrics such as hypertension, resting HR, and type 2 diabetes. The decrease in risk ranged from 10% to over 50%.
What Should I Do? I wouldn’t change anything you’re currently doing as long as you’re getting greater than 150 minutes of moderate to intense exercise every week. We don’t know the activities involved in either—just that the accelerometer showed they were moving. They also didn’t compare those that are just moderately active or completely sedentary as those were all lumped together in the less than groups. That might have impacted the outcomes. But still, it’s positive results.
What it can mean is that for those of you who are playing basketball or soccer for a couple of hours a day on the weekends, you’re getting some benefit. It also means if you have a two-hour trail walk you like to do on weekends, it can help reduce your risk of cardiometabolic diseases. Moving more is the critical thing.
There is a recent trend that any type of movement can be beneficial, regardless of the time it takes. While the researchers did not examine the data in relation to age, the mean age was 62 years, it may be that people that are younger favor less more intense exercise while those who are older may favor less intense exercise. It seems to make sense but we don’t know for sure. I would also like to have seen the role diet played in the outcomes. It would be interesting to know if higher intensity exercisers get the benefit even if they have a poor diet. Perhaps that’s what another research group will do.
As I was writing this script, another study was just publicized. The basic idea was the same – comparing short intense exercise bouts with exercise session that lasts over 30 minutes per session. That would include HIIT which is becoming more and more popular. In this case, the researchers were trying to examine the benefits on learning and memory variables. In effect, this was a purely numbers approach to perform a meta-analyses of prior studies. They found a total of 132 studies that fit the qualifications with about 4400 subjects total. One more thing. They focused on young adults who were between 18-45 years of age. My feeling was that they wanted to eliminate any clinical factors that interfere with exercise ability—not stated but that’s what I think.
What did they find? Acute exercise such as HIIT was found to have a small beneficial effect on cognition AKA learning and a decrease reaction time. That’s important because it means they were able to respond to stimuli faster. Looking at executive function revealed improvements in working memory and inhibition. Executive functions make possible mentally playing with ideas; taking the time to think before acting; meeting novel, unanticipated challenges; resisting temptations; and staying focused.
I think that, while this was more a study in the use of advanced statistics than anything else, it contributes to the idea that exercise, even in shorter bursts, provides benefits beyond the muscles and cardiovascular system; it’s also good for your brain.
What I really think it illustrates is that any movement is good movement. I would like to have seen the different activities involved and any orthopedic injuries associated with the activities. But let’s take the win. Just get moving and stay moving during the week or packed into a weekend. Go get them you warriors!
Let’s switch gears and turn to the very active. Researchers recruited competitive long-distance runners. 26 subjects, 4 women and 22 men, completed all phases of the study including all the testing procedures. This study investigated the impact of a high-dose 2:1 maltodextrin–fructose gel supplement in endurance runners immediately before, during, and after a 9.3 mile (15 km) run at 90% VO2max. The researchers chose that level as it reaches the lactate threshold that mimics race pace for most endurance athletes. The only thing missing would be any last-minute sprint to the finish. However, that would have obscured the blood work so the way the study was conducted was just about right.
What did they want to find out? There were testing the impact of high-intensity on post-exercise inflammatory stress with and without taking a high-dose (40 grams) of a sport gel. The commonly available gel had a 2:1 maltodextrin–fructose ratio. The types of variables they tested were related to post-exercise inflammation and omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. The thought is that the nutrients may reduce the inflammation response after exercise which may improve performance and speed recovery.
They tested inflammatory biomarkers and lipidomic profiles before the endurance tests and up to 24 h after. They focused on the effects of the high-dose maltodextrin-fructose gel on these factors: white blood cell count, neutrophil number, IL-6, cortisol, and hs-CRP levels, as well as polyunsaturated fatty acids.
White blood cell count is obviously tied to the inflammation status of the body. Interleukin 6 (IL-6) is produced in response to infections and tissue injuries, stimulates of acute phase responses, blood production, and immune reactions. The interesting thing is that IL-6 is released in response to exercise, the more intense, the more is released. The net effect with regular exercise training is a faster recovery to homeostasis. That means that hormones like cortisol will decrease faster and bring the immune system into balance. Finally, hs-CRP is a key marker of inflammation in the body. Exercise can help it come down which will reduce over all inflammation of the body.
What did they find? The supplementation with the M-F Gel significantly reduced inflammatory markers and metabolic stress. Without going into a lot of numbers, hs-CRP, IL-6, and Additionally, it may enhance the post-activity increase in blood ω-3 fatty acid levels and reduce the increase in ω-6 levels. The researchers concluded that adequate carbohydrate supplementation may acutely diminish inflammation during a one-hour endurance activity of moderate-to-high intensity. These effects could be beneficial for athletes engaging in frequent, high-intensity activities. If you’re a weekend warrior or just do HIIT regularly, you may want to check out products that have a similar blend of M and fructose. It may help with recovery
That’s it for now because I’m all out of time. This is Dr. Chet Zelasko saying health is a choice. Choose wisely today and every day.
References: https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.124.068669
