Science shows that regular strength training—whether it be weight lifting or other forms of resistance work—can boost mental health, stave off disease and increase bone and muscle mass, all of which adds up to a longer, healthier life. But how much strength training you need to achieve those benefits is less clear.
Both the World Health Organization (WHO) and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommend that most adults do at least two sessions of “muscle strengthening activity” per week, as well as 150 minutes of cardio, to see health benefits such as a lower risk of death.
More recent research builds on those recommendations: last week a study found that people who performed between 90 and 119 minutes of resistance training each week had a 13 percent lower death rate from any cause than people who did none. In other words, people who worked regularly over time to strengthen their muscles tended to live longer, the study found.
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Two hours of resistance training may sound like a lot. But even doing as little as half an hour or less each week is linked to a lower risk of dying from any cause, says Edward Giovannucci, one of the paper’s co-authors and a professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. And performing any more than 120 minutes of resistance training doesn’t seem to accrue additional benefits, Giovannucci and his team found.
The reasons why resistance training may help us live longer may be as much about the physical effects as they are about the mental effects. Weight lifting is known to increase glucose metabolism and boost bone density, for example, which could help people stay healthy even as they age. In turn, aging healthily means greater independence and quality of life, Giovannucci says.
“Importantly, 90 to 120 minutes per week should not be interpreted as a strict target or threshold,” says Yiwen Zhang, the paper’s lead author and a postdoctoral research fellow at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. The research didn’t take a detailed look at the kind of resistance training people were doing or at questions such as how intense the training was or how long the participants rested between sets or movements. “Future research is needed to refine these recommendations,” Zhang says.
Still, the finding jibes with previous research. Although exact takeaways vary from study to study, in general, the scientific literature indicates that “anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes” of muscle strengthening exercise per week can result in a reduction of about 10 to 20 percent in all-cause mortality, says Zachary Pope, an assistant professor at the University of Oklahoma, who was not involved in the new paper.
And that’s just muscle strengthening alone—the benefits grow when you incorporate cardio.
A 2022 study by Pope and his colleagues found that one hour a week of muscle-strengthening exercise could reduce the risk of death from any cause. When people combined strength training and “aerobic activity,” or cardio with around one to two times per week of strength training, they saw a 40 percent lower risk of death compared with people who didn’t exercise.
“If I had to recommend a minimum effective dose of aerobic physical activity plus muscle strengthening exercise, I would say no less than one hour per week of aerobic physical activity,” Pope says. “If you can, combine that with completing muscle strengthening exercises at least two times per week.”
Other experts agree that it’s best to do both cardio and resistance training for longevity. “The evidence is clear on this one,” says Jess Gorzelitz, an assistant professor at the University of Iowa, who studies behavioral interventions to promote exercise. “It’s not saying that you should do strength training instead of aerobic exercise. It’s not saying switching aerobic for lifting; it really is a combination of the two,” she says.
And again, any exercise makes a difference. “Even if it is one workout a month, once a week, a couple minutes while you’re waiting to pick your kids up from daycare—the evidence is very clear that something is better than nothing,” Gorzelitz says.
To get started with strength training, Gorzelitz recommends considering what level of activity can be “sustainable” and will fit into your schedule and preferences. And you don’t need fancy equipment or an expensive gym membership.
“Start small,” Pope recommends. “You can start in your home.” A set of resistance bands or body-weight exercises such as squats, planks and push-ups are all more than enough to get going.
“Muscle strengthening activities are for everyone,” Pope says.
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