Lifting for that much time each week was linked to a 13 percent lower risk of dying prematurely from any cause and a 19 percent lower risk of dying from heart disease.
Somewhat surprisingly, the risks of dying from neurological diseases, such as dementia, were improved the most, declining by 27 percent.
Smaller amounts of resistance exercise, including even a few minutes a week, likewise were linked to longer lives, though the declines in mortality risk were slighter.
After 119 weekly minutes, any gains flattened; lifting more didn’t raise mortality risks but didn’t further improve them, either.
Doing both aerobic and resistance exercise was best
Perhaps most important, the gains in lifespan associated with lifting came on top of any that people might be getting from aerobic exercise, since the researchers controlled for that kind of exercise. In effect, the gains were additive, and doing both was best. “People who combined aerobic exercise with resistance training generally had the lowest mortality risk,” said Yiwen Zhang, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health who led the study.
“Given its large sample size and long-term follow-up period, with repeated measures of resistance-training behaviors, the findings are convincing,” said David Scott, an exercise scientist at Deakin University in Australia who studies exercise and health but wasn’t involved in this research.
The study doesn’t show, though, how best to use the 90 to 119 minutes of lifting each week. Would three 30-minute workouts or 15 minutes a day be better for longevity than one 90-minute session? Is it better to lift heavier weights than light ones? Could push-ups and other calisthenics be just as effective as machine-based moves? “Future research is certainly needed” to answer those questions, Giovannucci said.
The study also doesn’t explain how weight training reduces the risk of dying prematurely. But other research suggests that being strong improves mobility and helps prevent falls with age. Muscle mass is beneficial, too, for lifelong metabolic health, and resistance exercise probably improves brain health by releasing substancesinto the bloodstream that travel to the brain and jump-start processes there that help keep it youthful.
But even with the study’s many outstanding questions, its findings keep its authors lifting.
“I’ve been doing so for the past 25 years,” Giovannucci said, “typically two to three times a week, about 45 minutes each time,” landing squarely in the study’s sweet spot.
Zhang is still working her way there, she said, lifting lightly about twice a week, for about an hour in total. But, given the results of her research, “I’m aiming to build up.”
Do you have a fitness question? Email YourMove@washpost.com, and we may answer your question in a future column.
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Doing both aerobic and resistance exercise was best
Perhaps most important, the gains in lifespan associated with lifting came on top of any that people might be getting from aerobic exercise, since the researchers controlled for that kind of exercise. In effect, the gains were additive, and doing both was best. “People who combined aerobic exercise with resistance training generally had the lowest mortality risk,” said Yiwen Zhang, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health who led the study.
“Given its large sample size and long-term follow-up period, with repeated measures of resistance-training behaviors, the findings are convincing,” said David Scott, an exercise scientist at Deakin University in Australia who studies exercise and health but wasn’t involved in this research.
The study doesn’t show, though, how best to use the 90 to 119 minutes of lifting each week. Would three 30-minute workouts or 15 minutes a day be better for longevity than one 90-minute session? Is it better to lift heavier weights than light ones? Could push-ups and other calisthenics be just as effective as machine-based moves? “Future research is certainly needed” to answer those questions, Giovannucci said.
The study also doesn’t explain how weight training reduces the risk of dying prematurely. But other research suggests that being strong improves mobility and helps prevent falls with age. Muscle mass is beneficial, too, for lifelong metabolic health, and resistance exercise probably improves brain health by releasing substancesinto the bloodstream that travel to the brain and jump-start processes there that help keep it youthful.
But even with the study’s many outstanding questions, its findings keep its authors lifting.
“I’ve been doing so for the past 25 years,” Giovannucci said, “typically two to three times a week, about 45 minutes each time,” landing squarely in the study’s sweet spot.
Zhang is still working her way there, she said, lifting lightly about twice a week, for about an hour in total. But, given the results of her research, “I’m aiming to build up.”
Do you have a fitness question? Email YourMove@washpost.com, and we may answer your question in a future column.
