New research from scientists in Hong Kong suggests you don’t necessarily need daily workouts or high‑repetition training to cut belly fat.
According to a new study, doing interval training just once a week can be as effective as exercising three times a week for losing weight and improving cardiovascular health.
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This finding, published in the journal Nature Communications, offers a structured and time-efficient approach for people who, because of work or family commitments, do not have enough time to go to the gym on a regular basis.
A breakthrough in managing abdominal obesity
Abdominal obesity is one of the most dangerous forms of fat accumulation in the body and is directly linked to cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders and an increased risk of death.
Although exercise plays a key role in treating this condition, maintaining regular physical activity is a major challenge for many people, especially those who are overweight.
The research team at the School of Public Health at the University of Hong Kong found that “intermittent brisk walking”, even if done only once a week, can reduce body fat mass and significantly improve cardiorespiratory fitness.
Why is interval training more effective?
Interval training consists of short bouts of high-intensity physical activity (such as very brisk walking) alternated with periods of rest or light activity (slow walking).
Compared with steady, continuous walking, this method is considered a much faster way to burn visceral fat (fat around the internal organs).
Professor Parco Siu Ming-Fai, head of the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Hong Kong and lead author of the study, says: “Current guidelines usually recommend exercising three times a week, but our study shows that if the total weekly exercise time stays the same, splitting it into fewer, higher-quality sessions produces similar results.”
Clinical trial details: 75 minutes a week is enough
The study was conducted between September 2021 and September 2024 on 315 adults in Hong Kong with abdominal obesity.
Participants were divided into three groups: one group did 75 minutes of interval training in a single weekly session; the second group did the same 75 minutes split into three 25-minute sessions a week; and a third control group received only health education.
After 16 weeks, the results were striking: both exercise groups, regardless of whether they had trained once or three times a week, experienced similar reductions in total body fat mass, body fat percentage and waist circumference. Their heart and lung fitness had also improved to the same extent.
An ideal option for 'weekend warriors'
The findings support the exercise pattern known as “weekend warriors”: people who concentrate all their weekly physical activity into one or two days off.
Professor Siu says: “For many adults juggling work, study and family, lack of time is the biggest barrier to exercising. Our findings suggest that working out once a week is a practical and effective alternative for people who cannot free up several days a week.”
Experts emphasise that the key to success with this method is maintaining the intensity of the workout in that single weekly session.
In fact, this research opens up a new way of managing obesity in today’s busy societies and shows that the quality and total duration of physical activity matter more than doing it every day.
