The internet was abuzz with a new study last week. A maximum of two hours of strength training every week was linked to better longevity, with a 19% lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease and a 27% lower risk of death related to a neurological disease, such as dementia.
Experts used data from three studies to see how weekly resistance training and aerobic exercise impacted the health of 147,374 people over 30 years. The participants, with an average age of 54, were asked to record how much of each exercise they did per week.
The study, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, found that effects were even more significant when aerobic exercise was added, and there was no observed benefit among people who did more than 120 minutes of strength training a week.
It sounds simple enough, but if you’re new to strength training, where do you start to fill this prescription for a potentially longer life? “I think one of the biggest barriers is the idea that strength training only counts if it means a full workout, several times a week, with lots of equipment or a gym membership,” says Kate Rowe-Ham, a personal trainer specialising in women’s fitness and the founder of Owning Your Menopause. “For many women, that thought alone is enough to make it feel unmanageable. But actually, it doesn’t have to look like that at all.”
What counts as strength training?
In the study, the researchers valued workouts that included press-ups, squats, and lunges, completed with weights or as bodyweight exercises. But, essentially, any form of exercise where the muscles work against a resistance counts as strength training.
Resistance can “come from weights, machines, resistance bands, bodyweight, water resistance, or loaded daily tasks such as carrying shopping or climbing stairs,” says Matt Molloy, a chartered physiotherapist and sports scientist working with Les Mills.
“The key point is the stimulus, not the equipment,” he explains. “Are the muscles being challenged? Are the major muscle groups involved? Can the exercise be progressed over time? If yes, then it can count as strength training.”
The two hours don’t have to be in dedicated sessions, adds Kate. You can divide your time up into 10-minute workouts if needed. “It might mean doing a few simple movements while dinner is cooking, before you get in the shower, or in a spare pocket of time at the weekend,” she says.
As for aerobic exercise for extra benefits, the study recorded this as brisk walking, running, jogging, swimming, cycling, tennis, squash, strenuous outdoor work and stair climbing.
HOMCOM
2x8kg Rubber Hex Dumbbell Set
HOMCOM’s dumbbell set is the one I reach for most often at home, and is a top choice on my list of the best dumbbells. The hexagonal design feels stable and means the weights don’t roll away when you put them on the floor. They also come as a pair.
FitBeast
Pull-Up Resistance Bands Set
A good set of resistance bands is an underrated workout tool for home. Not only are they significantly cheaper than dumbbells or kettlebells, but they are easier to store. And, as Matt says, stimulus is what’s important, not the equipment.
ProsourceFit
Prosourcefit Exercise Weighted Training Vest – 6lb, Black
Provided you walk with a weighted vest or do a weighted vest workout, this simple accessory can work just as well as any set of weights by making your body work harder to complete the same movement.
2-hour strength training routines to try
3 x 40-minute sessions
Ideally, strength training should be divided into three workouts per week, lasting for 40 minutes, says Kate. “I would break this down into an upper-body workout, a lower-body workout (with quadriceps and glute exercises) and a full-body workout so you can factor in rest days, in case you have any soreness.”
If you want to structure your own session, PT Kate recommends “including all seven functional patterns of movement” in your workouts.
Here’s what that includes:
- Squat: Any type of squat will be a good compound exercise, targeting muscles like the quadriceps and glutes.
- Lunge: A walking lunge is good if you’ve got the space, but otherwise, a regular lunge is a great single-leg exercise for boosting balance along with strength.
- Hinge: This will typically be a deadlift, a Romanian deadlift, or a hip thrust, which can be done in the gym or at home with weights.
- Push: Think press-ups, chest press, or overhead shoulder press for the upper body, and a leg press exercise on the machine for the lower body.
- Pull: This could be pull-ups with a resistance band, lat pull-downs on the machine, or a bent-over row.
- Rotate: Think core exercises like Russian twists and variations of the plank.
- Carry: This could be a farmer’s carry, for example, which uses kettlebells or dumbbells.
These are what’s known as compound exercises, says Matt. “They give you more benefit for the time you invest. They train several muscle groups at once and build strength in movements we use every day, such as standing, lifting, carrying, climbing stairs and controlling posture.”
Exercise snacking
If three dedicated sessions aren’t possible for you, try four lots of 30 minutes, six lots of 20 minutes, or “12 lots of 10 minutes on an extra-busy week”, says Kate.
I’ve done this before by setting my fitness tracker to ping every few hours (three times a day) when I’m at home in the evening on two working days and over the weekend. That’s 12 sessions of 10 minutes across four days.
When my Garmin watch pings, I know it’s time to pull out my weights and do a 10-minute weighted workout. It may not seem like a lot, but by the end of the week, I can truly feel the benefit.
“The encouraging thing is that the research suggests that even relatively modest amounts of muscle-strengthening activity seem to matter. So the message is not that women need to hit some perfect target straight away. It’s that doing something is far better than doing nothing, and small amounts still count,” says Kate.
Wear a weighted vest
A weighted vest, as the name suggests, is a pull-on weight that is worn like a jacket. While you’ll still need to do some work, simply wearing one of these “increases the load and makes movements more demanding,” explains Kate. It’s a hands-free approach to strength training if you walk with a weighted vest.
“I wouldn’t want women to think they can wear one while doing chores and tick off strength training,” says Kate. “But if you’re wearing a weighted vest while doing squats, lunges, step-ups, push-ups, or walking, then it can be a useful addition.”
