Lifting weights includes gaining strength, adding muscle, and improving your mood. A new study suggests that the practice may have an even more enormous benefit: it may make people live longer.
Researchers found that people who lifted weights once or twice a week had a 9% lower risk of dying from any cause except cancer, according to an observational study conducted over ten years among nearly 100,000 people.
Weight lifting and aerobic exercise reduced mortality risk by 41% compared to those who did not exercise.
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Assist Professor Jessica Gorzelitz says the research supports federal activity guidelines for adults, which recommend 150 minutes of aerobic exercise per week and muscle strengthening exercises twice a week.
Gorzelitz said, “If you want the biggest bang for your buck, the lowest risks were observed in those groups doing aerobic exercise and weightlifting.”
Powerlifter Gorzelitz says there are no studies on weight lifting and mortality, so she decided to study it. She notes that women appeared to get an even more enormous benefit from weight lifting than men.
Alpa Patel, a senior vice president at the National Cancer Institute, says longer-term follow-up studies are needed to verify whether weight lifting reduces cancer deaths.
She says, “Strength training is beneficial for cancer survivors. The other intriguing finding was that people who did aerobic exercise and lifted weights three to seven times a week had an even lower mortality rate.”
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Further research suggests that weight lifting can lower death risks. Exercise can improve body composition, trim fat, and build muscle, reducing the risk of death from any cause, especially heart disease.
However, only a quarter of Americans meet the U.S. physical activity guidelines.
Gorzelitz said, “People don’t have to run out and start training for bodybuilding. “It’s okay to start with small steps for improving your health. Start slow and look for help online or from a personal trainer. Doing something is better than nothing.