Associations of “weekend warrior” and other physical activity patterns with the risk of metabolic syndrome and its components: From NHANES 2007–2018

Physical activity is important for preventing metabolic syndrome (MetS), but the impact of the “weekend warrior” pattern—doing ≥150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity in one or two sessions per week—remains uncertain. This study used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) involving 26,847 adults to examine associations between physical activity patterns (inactive, insufficiently active, regularly active, and “weekend warrior”) and the risk of MetS and its components. Physical activity was assessed using the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire. Weighted logistic regression models evaluated these associations. Compared to inactive adults, regularly active participants (OR = 0.64, 95% CI: 0.57, 0.71), “weekend warriors” (OR = 0.72, 95% CI: 0.54, 0.98), and insufficiently active individuals (OR = 0.77, 95% CI: 0.69, 0.85) had significantly lower risks of MetS. All active groups also showed significantly reduced risks of abdominal obesity and hypertriglyceridemia compared to inactive individuals (p < 0.05). Additionally, the regularly and insufficiently active groups had lower risks of hyperglycemia and low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. These results indicate that “weekend warrior” physical activity patterns can provide meaningful metabolic benefits, particularly for individuals who are unable to exercise regularly.