"Weekend Warrior" Physical Activity and Adipose Tissue Deposition

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Exercise Physiology
• Biomedical Imaging

Background:

• Guideline-recommended physical activity levels significantly reduce cardiometabolic disease risk.
• The "weekend warrior" pattern, concentrating activity into 1-2 days, is common but its impact on cardiometabolic health biomarkers is unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between physical activity patterns (regular vs. weekend warrior) and imaging-based biomarkers of cardiometabolic health.
• To compare the effects of different physical activity patterns on visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and epicardial/pericardial adipose tissue (EPAT).

Main Methods:

• Analysis of 17,146 UK Biobank participants using accelerometer data and cardiac MRI.
• Categorization of participants into inactive, regular, or weekend warrior activity patterns.
• Assessment of associations between activity patterns and VAT/EPAT using multiple linear regression.

Main Results:

• Both weekend warrior and regular physical activity were associated with lower VAT and EPAT compared to inactivity.
• Weekend warrior activity showed slightly higher VAT and EPAT than regular activity when directly compared.
• No significant differences in VAT or EPAT were observed between activity patterns after adjusting for total moderate-to-vigorous physical activity volume.

Conclusions:

• Adhering to physical activity guidelines is linked to improved cardiometabolic health markers.
• The pattern of physical activity (regular vs. weekend warrior) does not influence these health markers when the total volume of activity is equivalent.