Once-a-week workout matches effects of working out three times a week for cutting belly fat

Once-a-week workout matches effects of working out three times a week for cutting belly fat

A single 75-minute session of brisk interval walking performed just once a week can trim belly fat and boost cardiovascular fitness as effectively as spreading the same exercise across three separate days, according to new research from the University of Hong Kong. The study, published yesterday in Nature Communications, involved 315 adults living with central obesity and ran over a four-month intervention period. Researchers at HKUMed's School of Public Health discovered that participants who consolidated their weekly interval training into one session achieved reductions in body fat percentage, total fat mass, and waist circumference that matched those seen in a group exercising three times weekly. The findings offer a potentially significant shift in how clinicians might prescribe physical activity to time-poor patients. TRENDING Stories Videos Your Say Abdominal fat poses a particular threat to health because of its strong links to cardiovascular disease, metabolic conditions, and elevated mortality risk. Obesity itself is a chronic condition characterised by harmful accumulation of body fat, yet exercise — one of the most effective tools for managing it — proves difficult for many sufferers to sustain over time. Conventional guidance typically recommends interval training on three days each week. For those juggling professional demands, family obligations, or limited access to fitness facilities, that frequency can feel unachievable. Earlier studies have indicated that so-called "weekend warrior" exercise patterns, where most physical activity is compressed into one or two days, can still yield meaningful health gains. Until now, however, scant evidence existed on whether interval training specifically retained its effectiveness when concentrated into a single weekly bout. The HKUMed team conducted their randomised trial between September 2021 and September 2024, recruiting Chinese adults aged 18 and above who were overweight with central obes