We all know working out comes with a lot of health benefits, but what if exercise is just not really your thing, or you have a too-busy schedule that doesn’t allow for daily workout time? As it turns out, you don’t have to exercise every day—you’ll still get those healthy perks even if you’re a less frequent gym-goer.
Of course, more regular exercise will do more for your overall fitness levels, but as far as health benefits are concerned, working out only a few times a week still cuts it pretty close—which is good news for all those weekend warriors out there. A study in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine examined 63,000 British and Scottish adults and found that those who exercised once or twice a week had a 30 percent lower mortality rate than those who didn’t work out at all. That’s only a 5 percent difference from those who worked out 3 or more times a week, who had a 35 percent lower mortality rate.
