Study: You May Only Need Exercise 1, 2 Times a Week

Your couch potato syndrome during the week might not actually be that big of a deal – as long as you're working out over the weekend.

So-called "weekend warriors" – those who only work out one or two days a week – are still lowering their risk of death from cancer and cardiovascular disease, according to a study published this week in JAMA Internal Medicine. This even applies to people who are obese and have other medical risk factors.

The data, collected between 1994 and 2012, came from nearly 63,600 adults examined in two surveys: the Health Survey for England and the Scottish Health Survey.

"Compared to inactive people, the results reveal that the insufficiently active, weekend warriors and people with regular physical activity patterns had reduced risks of all-cause, CVD and cancer mortality," says study author Emmanuel Stamatakis of the University of Sydney in Australia.

The overall death risk was about 30 percent lower for active adults compared to inactive adults. These active adults included "weekend warriors" in addition to "insufficiently active respondents" (or those who logged less than one to two activity sessions each week) and "regularly active respondents" (those who logged three or more), according to the study.

Currently, the World Health Organization advises that adults engage in moderate-intensity activity for at least 150 minutes per week, vigorous-intensity activity for at least 75 minutes per week – or some combination. What remains to be seen – and what requires more research – is whether the guidelines could be met over different time periods (such as over two days or even one) and still prove healthy.

Brian Parr, associate professor of exercise and sports science at the University of South Carolina-Aiken who was not a part of the study, discussed its shortcomings with CNN.

"It doesn't tell us much about how these activity patterns impact health the way most of us would consider it, from controlling blood pressure, diabetes and blood lipids, to depression and weight control," he told CNN. "It also doesn't say anything about fitness, including strength, endurance and flexibility, which is an important reason many people are active."

Study limitations include that more than 90 percent of those studied were Caucasian and researchers couldn't take into account physical activity changes over time.

For now, Stamatakis echoes the traditional exercise recommendations in a news release: "However, for optimal health benefits from physical activity it is always advisable to meet and exceed the physical activity recommendations."