90 to 120 Minutes of Strength Training a Week Linked to Lower Death Risk

Details

A large 30-year observational study examined how long-term resistance training relates to the risk of dying from different causes. Researchers followed 147,374 adults from three long-running US health studies, using repeated questionnaires to track strength training and aerobic activity over time. During follow-up, 35,798 participants died. People who reported 90 to 119 minutes of resistance training per week had a 13% lower risk of death from any cause compared with people who reported no resistance training, after accounting for aerobic activity. The same range was associated with a 19% lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease and a 27% lower risk of death from neurological diseases. The researchers did not find additional all-cause mortality benefit above 120 minutes per week. Cancer mortality showed a different pattern, with lower risk associations appearing at smaller amounts of resistance training. The study also found that combining resistance training with substantial aerobic activity was associated with still lower mortality risk. For example, participants with 30 to less than 45 MET-hours of aerobic activity per week and 60 to 119 minutes of resistance training had about a 45% lower mortality risk than the comparison group with inadequate aerobic activity and no resistance training. The findings are associations from an observational study, so they cannot prove that strength training itself caused the lower mortality risk. People who exercise regularly may also differ from less active people in diet, smoking, sleep, healthcare access, body weight, income, and other factors. Still, the study adds long-term evidence about the relationship between resistance exercise, aerobic activity, and mortality across a very large population.