You Can Be Lazy Most of the Week and Still Not Get Fat

 

 

You count your carbs, mind your portions and adhere to a borderline-psychotic exercise routine.
And while not stuffing your fat face is a good strategy against weight gain, new research suggests that how often you hit the gym may not be all that important. So chill on the cardio, freak.
Researchers from Queen’s University found that so long as you clock in about 150 minutes of total exercise per week, you can eat the shit out of everything, be lazy most of the week, and still not gain a pound.
Just kidding.
But they did find that your total weekly sweat time may be more important in warding off crappy things like obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and metabolic syndrome than how many days a week you drag your ass to spin class.
Researchers analyzed a sample of 2,324 Canadian adults who had participated in the Canadian Health Measures Survey. All participants did at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise per week – some suckers had to sweat it out in five to seven weekly sessions, while others only worked out one to four times per week.
Survey says?
Health risks remained the same regardless of how often the participants worked out – but the healthiest people were the ones who had the highest amount of total minutes exercised per week. Study author Ian Janssen, PhD, associate professor at the School of Kinesiology and Health Studies at Queen’s University in Canada, says that the type and intensity of the activity – in addition to how long you do it – has more bearing on ultimate health (including the reduced risk for becoming a fat ass) than how frequently you perform it:

The findings indicate that it does not matter how adults choose to accumulate their 150 weekly minutes of physical activity. For instance, someone who did not perform any physical activity on Monday to Friday but was active for 150 minutes over the weekend would obtain the same health benefits from their activity as someone who accumulated 150 minutes of activity over the week by doing 20-25 minutes of activity on a daily basis

But before you cancel that appointment with your personal trainer to get blitzed at happy hour instead, realize that working out two or three days a week probably won’t do shit to help you reach fitness goals. In other words, this study doesn’t mean much if you’re training for a marathon or wanting to shed weight fast.
It does, however, give you license to go easy on yourself when you’re having that week from hell and can’t even fathom the notion of getting out of bed – much less working out. Just squeeze in a few longer workouts on the weekend and you won’t die an early death from cardiovascular disease or fatness. Sweet.
How often do you work out? Do you think it matters if you go hard a few days a week or moderate for most of them? Let us know in the comments. 
 Image via lululemon
  Mara Tyler, Managing Editor
A  Bay Area health nut with a big mouth, Mara is a writer and marketing consultant who enjoys a lifestyle that affords her the freedom to wear yoga pants every day. Her work has been featured on sites like Redbook, SF Weekly, Livestrong, Healthline, Natural News and Astrology.com. Passionate about women’s wellness, she shares vegan and gluten-free recipes, health news and mind-body musings on her website, MaraKTyler.com. You can also snag a copy of her e-book, Cheap & Simple Vegan Everyday Cookbook. To make her day, follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, @mtyler23.