Can Strength Training Really Help You Live Longer (and Healthier)?
A recent study has shown that you can live longer and better with strength training alone, regardless of age or gender. Find out what fitness experts say about adding strength training and how to combine it effectively with aerobic exercise in your physical fitness program.
The prospect of living longer excites us all, and most people want to find ways to make this possible. The quest for the mythical “fountain of youth” goes as far back as the 16th century. But a legendary philosopher of ancient Rome, Lucius Annaeus Seneca (who lived in the 1st century AD), once said, “Not how long, but how well you have lived is the main thing.”
This timeless quote stresses the importance of quality of life over its longevity. While we agree with Seneca for the most part, we can’t help but ask, “why settle for one when you can have both through strength training?”
We all want to live long, but we consider it equally critical to maintain a healthy lifestyle where we can thrive and not just survive. Our chances of a healthy lifestyle depend on how well we maintain physical fitness. Physical exercises have numerous health benefits, including disease prevention, a better immune system, weight reduction, improved mental health, etc.
Studies have also shown that regular exercise can help prevent stress and burnout and improve work productivity. But for a long time, fitness experts have prioritized aerobic exercise for older adults and overlooked strength training.
The tables have turned recently, and recent studies prove that strength training is equally important for adults to live long and healthy lives. A recent study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that strength training alone lowers the risk of death from any cause except cancer. The study also showed that combining strength training with aerobic exercise reduces mortality risk more significantly than doing only one of them.
Does this mean that the more strength training you do, the greater your chances of living longer? Well, not quite. There is a limit to the amount of strength training you should do every week, and going far beyond that limit might be counterproductive.
How much strength training do you need to live a longer and healthier life? Continue reading to find out.
What Is Strength Training?
When most people hear strength training, they picture a state-of-the-art gym with special equipment and professional trainers. They are usually discouraged because this sounds like a huge commitment costing a lot of money. However, fitness experts agree that strength training, especially for adults, can be done anywhere.
You can do strength training in the comfort of your home with improvised equipment and still achieve the benefits, which include a longer lifespan and better health. Strength training is a fitness activity that involves using your body weight or external equipment to tone your muscles, boost your bone density, develop your joints, and strengthen your body.
According to a study published by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, only 30% of adults in the United States do the recommended amount of strength training per week. It is hardly surprising because most people believe strength training is primarily for professional weightlifters and bodybuilders, and older adults have little use for it.
However, strength training has no age limit. It is even more necessary for adults because they lose most of their physical abilities as they age. Strength training helps them do basic tasks, such as getting up from the chair, moving about, and climbing the stairs.
Benefits of Strength Training
Researchers have uncovered a lot of evidence that proves that strength training has numerous benefits for people of all ages. Although the effects may not be noticeable in your physical appearance, fitness experts maintain that even the smallest amount of strength training affects your body positively, so do not be afraid to start small.
Here are some of the most common advantages of strength training.
Stronger Bones
Strength training helps strengthen your body’s existing bones and stimulates further bone growth. It significantly lowers the risk of bone fractures and shields you from bone-related diseases.
Weight Loss
Your body burns a lot of calories during strength training. After the training session, your body goes through post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) and burns more calories. Strength training increases your body’s metabolic rate, allowing it to eliminate excess fat.
Improved Mobility in Adults
Although the effects of strength training are more evident in youths, older adults need it more for mobility and flexibility. Strength training helps them perform basic tasks like moving around and lifting a bag of groceries.
Less Risk of Diseases
Strength training helps prevent osteoporosis in the bone, lowers the risk of diabetes by managing blood sugar levels, aids blood circulation, lowers the risk of injuries, and strengthens the immune system.
Longer Life
Most physical health effects of strength training have been common knowledge for a while. However, it wasn’t until recently that researchers successfully proved that strength training alone could help you live longer and better. We’d say that increased longevity is a benefit well worth the effort!
Is Strength Training Better for Adults than Aerobic Exercise?
Strength training and Aerobic exercise are different things and ultimately serve different purposes. While strength training helps build your muscles, bones, and joints, aerobic exercise strengthens your heart and lungs.
Despite widely held beliefs that cardio is better for adults to keep a healthy weight, a study showed that strength training is more effective for preserving lean muscle mass, losing excess fat, and lowering the risk of disability. The study examined about 249 obese adults in their 60s for over eighteen months. The researchers divided the participants into three groups; a low-calorie diet group, a diet plus cardio group, and a diet plus strength training group.
At the end of the study, the group that combined diet with strength training recorded the highest fat loss and preserved more lean muscle mass than the others. Although diet plus cardio helped these adults lose more weight than diet alone, they also lost more lean muscle mass.
Fitness experts agree that losing excess fat is highly recommended, especially among older adults. However, it is equally essential to preserve lean muscle mass because older adults don’t regain it once they lose it. Lean muscle mass helps older adults function effectively, and its loss increases their risk of physical disability.
Although strength training and aerobic exercise improve the body’s overall health separately, combining both workouts benefits the body. Recent research proved that strength training alone without aerobic exercise increases the chances of living longer by 9%, and aerobic exercise alone without strength training prolongs the lifespan by 32%. But those who combine strength training with aerobic exercise have a 41% increase in their chances of living longer.
How Much Strength Training and Cardio Do You Need?
Cardio and strength training may be suitable for adults, but it isn’t a case of “the more, the merrier.” Some studies have shown that going far beyond the recommended amount of training may cause an adverse effect due to a greater risk of injury.
According to the Physical Activity Guidelines for Adults provided by the US Department of Health and Human Services, adults should get 150 minutes of moderate-intensity cardio or aerobic exercise per week. This exercise may include walking, taking the stairs, riding a bike, etc. Alternatively, adults should get 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity per week, like running or swimming.
The US Department of Health and Human Services also recommends two sessions of strength training per week, incorporating all major muscle groups in the body, including the back, hips, legs, abdomen, chest, arms, and shoulders. It could be weightlifting, muscle-strengthening exercises like sit-ups and push-ups, or lifting groceries and furniture at home.
If you’re above forty years and you haven’t done any intense activity for a long time, or you’re suffering from a chronic illness, please see your doctor before you start strength training. Your doctor will recommend how much strength training you can do without endangering yourself.
Author Bio — Sodiq Kolade, BrainManager Team Writer
Sodiq Kolade holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Ibadan. He is passionate about helping others become the best version of themselves and believes this can only be achieved by understanding their personalities and what makes them tick.
Sodiq uses his creative writing, research, and storytelling skills to develop high-quality articles to aid personal, career, and societal development. He loves writing for BrainManager because it allows him to help people on a much wider scale.
