It’s a no-brainer that strength training helps maximize your natural lifespan. But what specifically can you do with strength training to achieve this result?
Researchers found that doing about 90 to 120 minutes of resistance training each week was associated with the greatest reduction in the risk of early death.
The study tracked more than 147,000 adults for up to 30 years and was published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
The findings also showed that combining strength training with aerobic exercise produced even bigger benefits than either type of exercise alone.
A 30-Year Look at Exercise Habits
To better understand the long-term effects of training with weights, researchers analyzed data from three large health studies involving 147,374 adults.
The participants included more than 31,000 men and 115,000 women.
Every two years, they reported how much time they spent doing both aerobic exercise and strength training.
Aerobic activities included walking, running, pedaling, tennis and stair climbing.
Strength training included workouts using weights or bodyweight exercises such as pushups, squats and lunges.
At the beginning of the study, participants averaged about 54 years old.
Strength Training Linked to Lower Mortality Risk
During the follow-up period, nearly 36,000 participants died.
After adjusting for factors that could influence the results, researchers found that people who consistently performed 90 to 120 minutes of strength training per week had a 13% lower risk of death from any cause compared to those who did none.
Interestingly, the benefits appeared to level off after about two hours per week.
Doing more than 120 minutes of strength training was not associated with additional reductions in overall mortality.
However, this doesn’t mean if you’re exceeding two hours a week, you should knock it down to under that amount.
There are over 600 muscles in the body, and depending on your fitness goals, it could very logically require well over two hours a week to complete your strength regimen.
That extra time is certainly better spent in the gym than sitting in front of a screen.
The 90-120 minutes/week was also linked to a 19% lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease and a 27% lower risk of death from neurological disease.
Cancer Benefits Appeared at Lower Levels
The study also found a connection between lifting weights and lower cancer mortality.
Participants who performed just one to 29 minutes of resistance training per week had a 21% lower risk of dying from cancer.
Those doing 30 to 59 minutes weekly had an 18% lower cancer death risk.
Why Combining Cardio and Weights Works Best
The combination here doesn’t pertain to doing both types of exercise in the same session.
Instead it refers to doing both types of exercise, preferably on separate days.
People who performed only resistance workouts for up to 120 minutes weekly had a 7% to 11% lower risk of premature death compared with those who were largely inactive.
Aerobic exercise by itself delivered even greater benefits. Participants who exceeded recommended aerobic activity levels had a 26% to 43% lower mortality risk.
The biggest reductions were seen among people who regularly did both.
Participants who combined high levels of aerobic activity with 60 to 120 minutes of weekly weight training had about a 45% lower risk of death.
Among the most active aerobic exercisers, mortality risk was reduced by more than 50%, regardless of how much strength training they performed.
Important Study Limitations
The study showed an association between exercise and longer life, rather than a direct link.
Exercise habits were also self-reported, which can sometimes lead to inaccuracies.
The study also lacked detailed information about workout intensity, session length and some forms of resistance exercise such as Pilates and certain calisthenics programs.
The findings suggest that a moderate amount of strength training may be enough to maximize many of the health and longevity benefits linked to resistance workouts.
