Most people know that regular exercise is good for their health. Running, walking, and biking are associated with a reduced risk of various diseases and mortality rates.
However, the impact of strength training on a person’s well-being is not that obvious.
According to a recent large-scale scientific study, there could be numerous health benefits linked to strength training if done in proper amounts.
More specifically, 90 to 120 minutes of strength training every week was found to be associated with an increased life expectancy and a reduced risk of mortality rates from the leading causes.
The findings add to growing evidence that building and maintaining muscle is about much more than appearance. It may also play a key role in long-term health and survival.
A 30-year look at exercise habits
The research followed 147,374 adults over a period of up to 30 years. Participants of the study were from three major longitudinal health studies, which had 31,540 men and 115,834 women in total.
Every two years, participants were asked to report the duration of their aerobic activity and muscle strengthening activities undertaken weekly.
Aerobic physical activities were brisk walking, jogging, running, swimming, bicycling, tennis, squash, strenuous housework and outdoor work, and using stairs.
Examples of strength training activities include resistance activities and weight lifting.
The mean age of participants at baseline was 54 years old. Nearly half of the participants engaged in strength training exercises.
Approximately 74% of participants surpassed the minimum recommendations of 150 minutes of weekly moderate aerobic physical activities.
The surprising number
Of all the participants, 35,798 participants died during the follow-up period. When researchers analyzed the data, they found a clear pattern.
People who completed 90 to 119 minutes of strength training per week had a 13% lower risk of death from any cause compared with those who did none.
The benefits were even more noticeable for specific diseases. That amount of weekly strength training was associated with a 19% lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease and a 27% lower risk of death from neurological disease.
Interestingly, doing more than 120 minutes of strength training each week did not appear to provide additional benefits for overall survival.
“Our findings on different dose-response relationships between long-term resistance training with all-cause and cause-specific mortality suggest that different amounts of resistance training may be needed to optimize benefits across outcomes,” noted the researchers.
Cancer risk showed a different pattern
The team also found an association between strength training and lower cancer mortality, but the results differed from those seen with heart and neurological diseases.
A reduced risk of cancer was observed only at lower levels of strength training.
People who performed one to 29 minutes per week had a 21% lower risk of cancer-related death, while those doing 30 to 59 minutes weekly had an 18% lower risk.
The researchers did not identify a similar benefit at higher levels of strength training.
Because the study was observational, it cannot prove that strength training directly caused these differences. It only shows that the factors were linked.
The power of combining exercise types
Strength training alone was associated with benefits, but the strongest results appeared when people combined it with aerobic activity.
Compared with people who performed less than 7.5 MET hours of aerobic exercise per week and did no strength training, those who completed one to 59 minutes or 60 to 119 minutes of strength training alone had a 7% to 11% lower risk of death.
Aerobic exercise by itself was associated with a 26% to 43% lower risk of death at levels above 7.5 MET hours per week.
Consistency is key
The lowest risks were seen among people who consistently did both forms of exercise.
Participants who completed 30 to 44 MET hours of aerobic activity plus 60 to 119 minutes of strength training each week had a 45% lower risk of death.
Among those performing more than 45 MET hours of aerobic activity weekly, the risk was 53% to 58% lower regardless of strength training level.
“The observed pattern that adding resistance training further reduced mortality risk across all levels of aerobic activity up to 45 MET hours/week supports current recommendations encouraging both types of activity to maximise mortality benefits,” noted the researchers.
Why muscle matters as people age
Scientists have increasingly focused on muscle health in recent years.
Muscles allow individuals to move around, keep their balance, metabolize well, and perform daily activities independently.
The decrease in muscle mass is likely to increase at an older age. The physiological change in nature has been associated with frailty, falls, poor quality of life, and increased risk of diseases.
Exercises aimed at building muscles can reverse this trend. They will lead to improved bone density and joint strength, as well as help control blood glucose levels.
All of these factors may account for a positive relationship between resistance exercises and longevity.
Broader implications of the study
The researchers acknowledged several limitations. The exercise information was self-reported rather than directly measured.
The study also did not include some strengthening activities such as Pilates and calisthenics.
Researchers had no information on workout intensity or the length of individual exercise sessions, which could have influenced the results.
Because this was an observational study, it cannot establish cause and effect.
Even so, the findings point to a simple message. A modest amount of strength training each week, especially when combined with regular aerobic exercise, may offer meaningful long-term health benefits.
For many adults, the sweet spot appears to be about an hour and a half to two hours per week.
The full study was published in the journal British Journal of Sports Medicine.
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