Scientists find the strength training “sweet spot” for a longer life — SkimNews
Get the Health newsletter
Daily health & science — research, biotech, public health, the studies worth knowing. Free.
- Researchers tracked nearly 150,000 US nurses and health professionals across three long-running cohorts for up to 30 years, recording about 36,000 deaths to map strength training habits against mortality risk.
- Participants who did 90 to 120 minutes of strength training weekly had a 13% lower all-cause mortality risk than those who did none, with cardiovascular deaths falling 19% and neurological deaths — mainly dementia — dropping 27%.
- The longevity benefit plateaued beyond roughly two hours of weekly strength training, and the pattern broke for cancer deaths, where only sessions under one hour a week showed a protective link.
- Combining at least 150 weekly minutes of moderate aerobic activity with one to two hours of strength training reduced overall death risk by about 45%, the steepest reduction observed in the data.
- Skeletal muscle is the mechanism the source highlights — it absorbs roughly 80% of post-meal blood glucose and, when contracted, releases myokines that dampen the chronic inflammation tied to heart disease, diabetes and cancers.
- The authors caution the study was observational and self-reported, so it shows association rather than causation, though it adjusted for diet, smoking and aerobic activity.
Why it matters: The data gives a concrete, achievable weekly target — two short strength sessions plus daily aerobic movement — that the 30-year study tied to the largest mortality reductions for heart disease and dementia deaths, with the cancer-death exception tempering the broader message.
Ask SkimNews
