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New study says doing this for 2 hours a week will help you live longer
Resistance training, a.k.a. strength training, delivers a ton of healthy perks, including building lean muscle mass, increasing bone density, boosting metabolism and improving your overall body composition. Not only can it make you look and feel good, incorporating 90 to 120 minutes of strength training a week may add years to your life, according to a study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
In fact, the researchers found people who performed moderate amounts of strength training anywhere between 90 and 120 minutes a week had a 13% lower risk of all-cause premature death, a 19% decreased risk of dying from cardiovascular disease and 27% from neurological disease, compared to people who did no resistance training at all. The study also found the strength training benefits leveled off at around 120 minutes per week.
“Although the lowest risk of an early death was associated with the 90- to 120-minute range, a decreased risk was seen even at relatively small amounts of resistance training from zero to 30 minutes, 30 to 60 and 60 to 90 minutes,” says Yiwen Zhang, Ph.D., a postdoctoral research fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston and lead author of the study.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the risk reduction was even more prominent when people also added aerobic activity to their regimen. “Aerobic activity and resistance training may benefit the body through different but complementary pathways,” Zhang says.
Related video: Improving reaction time can save your life (WHAS-TV Louisville)Here’s more of what the researchers uncovered about how resistance training may keep you around longer, and ways to start if you’re new to the strength training game.“Aerobic activity improves your cardiorespiratory fitness, circulation, blood pressure, vascular function, glucose and lipid profiles,” says Edward Giovannucci, Ph.D., a professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, one of the study’s co-authors.
But while cardio is key, so is building strength through resistance training activities, which involve forcing your muscles to work against some sort of gravity. These movements cause tiny tears in your muscle fibers, which fuse together when you rest. The result? Stronger and thicker muscle mass.
Along with helping to maintain muscle strength and lean mass, resistance training can also help improve glucose metabolism, body composition, bone health and physical function. “Adding strength training can also contribute to improved mental health, social well-being and a better quality of life,” adds Giovannucci.
The great thing about strength training is you don’t necessarily need to go to a gym to do it. “Bodyweight exercises such as push-ups, squats and lunges, resistance bands, light weights or household objects can all be approachable options, as long as they safely challenge the muscles,” Giovannucci explains.
What the study found
The researchers were interested in analyzing strength training as a possible contributor to living longer and by how much time on a weekly basis. “While the benefits of aerobic activity for longevity are already well established, what’s been less clear is how resistance training relates to long-term mortality risk, especially at different weekly amounts and in combination with aerobic activity,” says Zhang.
Zhang and her colleagues looked at 30 years’ worth of data from three large, long-running studies (the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, the Nurses’ Health Study, and the Nurses’ Health Study II) and the exercise activity habits of more than 147,000 people. To assess weekly resistance training and aerobic exercise durations, study participants were given questionnaires to fill out at baseline and every two years after that for up to 30 years. At baseline, the average age of the study subjects was 54 years old and during up to 30 years of follow-up, the Harvard team documented 35,798 deaths.
Besides finding the sweet spot of 90 to 120 minutes of resistance training having a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, neurological disease such as dementia and all-cause death, it also showed a decreased risk of cancer mortality, though it was within a smaller time frame. Those who performed 1-29 minutes per week had a 9% decreased risk of dying from cancer and those doing 30-59 minutes had a 12% lower risk.
There were some other surprising discoveries too. Study subjects who did both strength and cardio training, such as walking, running, swimming, cycling or tennis, had among the lowest mortality risks in the study, amounting to up to a 45% lower risk than those who didn’t do either kind of training.
“Resistance training appeared to add benefit across most levels of aerobic activity. In other words, people who already do aerobic exercise may still gain additional mortality benefit by adding some strength training,” says Zhang. There was, though, one possible exception, and that was with participants who already performed very high amounts of aerobic activity, such as 45 MET-hours per week, which is roughly equivalent to 4 to 5 hours per week of running, she reports.
Another interesting finding had to do with the association between higher resistance training and lower neurological disease mortality.
“This wasn’t entirely surprising because growing evidence suggests strength training may help maintain physical function, metabolic health and possibly cognitive function as people age,” says Giovannucci. “However, this was an observational study and wasn’t designed to prove the biological mechanisms. Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s can begin many years before diagnosis and early symptoms may reduce a person’s ability or motivation to exercise.”
Additionally, he emphasizes neurological causes of death, especially dementia, can be difficult to classify accurately. “More research is needed on this before drawing firm conclusions,” says Giovannucci.
The takeaway
According to the researchers, the clearest message from their study is to include both aerobic activity and resistance training as part of a long-term routine. Aerobic activity remains very important, but adding resistance training is important too, says Zhang.
If someone is brand new to strength training, Zhang recommends starting out with what is realistic and sustainable. “Although our study didn’t measure specific weights, sets or repetitions, beginners should start at a level that feels both safe and manageable,” she says. Zhang stresses people with health conditions or concerns should consult their doctor or health care provider before starting a new exercise routine.
Following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s physical activity guidelines for adults, which suggest doing muscle-strengthening exercises two or more days a week, is a good starting point, advises Zhang.
“Some people may want to start with bodyweight, resistance bands or light dumbbells, such as 2 to 5 pounds for upper-body work,” she says. “A practical starting point may be one set of 8–10 reps, focusing on good form. Over time, this can gradually build to 2 to 3 sets.” Zhang notes the resistance exercise should feel challenging by the last few repetitions, but not so painful or difficult that your form breaks down.
The bottom line: Keep moving and include some resistance training for some additional health benefits, including potentially enjoying more trips around the sun. “For individuals who already do aerobic activity, adding some resistance training may provide additional benefits,” says Zhang. “And for people who are less active, even small amounts of strength training can matter, and gradually building a routine may be more effective than trying to do too much at once.”
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