A recent meta-analysis that combined data from 16 studies and more than 1.5 million subjects found that muscle-strengthening activities reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, lung cancer, and all-cause mortality by almost 20%. It was related to
“Strength training is not associated with aerobic It provides many health benefits.” Strengthening the campaign on mortality. Adding muscle improves strength and bone density and reduces the risk of musculoskeletal injuries.
Running, swimming, soccer, and other aerobic exercises have many effects on the cardiovascular system (heart and blood vessels), but little on overall muscle mass and strength.
Perhaps most importantly for health, research has found that strength training improves the body’s response to insulin, resulting in better postprandial glycemic control. Cardiovascular system by thickening the heart wall and increasing arterial plaque formation.
Also, emerging evidence shows that myokines are produced when skeletal muscle contracts. Myokines are small strings of amino acids that exist between muscle and the rest of the body and help regulate various metabolic processes that help improve cardiac metabolic health. German researchers reported last spring that “by stimulating skeletal muscles in some way, we can take advantage of this crosstalk to improve health.”
Aging and inactivity tend to reduce muscle mass, so resistance training is even more important for older adults to help slow the natural loss of muscle mass that comes with age. This is essential for maintaining independence and keeping older people active. This also reduces the risk of chronic illness from disability and inactivity.
Experts say strength training has positive effects on brain health and function, possibly lowering the risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
Michael Valenzuela is a researcher at the University of New South Wales and one of the leaders of a study examining the effects of resistive exercise on cognitive function and brain structure in 100 subjects with mild cognitive impairment. He found that strength training appeared to protect areas of the brain typically targeted by Alzheimer’s disease, particularly the hippocampus.
That’s why strength training can help prevent disease, says Valenzuela. “We also found that these changes improved general cognitive performance in older adults who received the training, so it wasn’t just an accidental finding,” he says.
A 2022 study in the JAMA Network Open, based on a Canadian longitudinal study of aging, found that low muscle mass was associated with faster future cognitive decline, at least in adults over the age of 65. It turns out that there is Researchers theorized that increased muscle mass improves physical activity and cardiopulmonary function, increasing blood flow to the brain.
So how much strength training is enough?
The Federal Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommend two or more strength training sessions each week. Ideally, your session should include 4-6 different exercises that use as many muscle groups as possible (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders, arms). Do 10-12 repetitions 2-3 times for each exercise.
“I’ve found that I only do one to three hours of moderate-intensity exercise a week, like brisk walking and vigorous cardio. [high intensity interval training] Training — Strength training just once or twice a week significantly reduced the risk of death from all causes,” says McDonough.
Given the importance of walking to the bus or to the store, most people should be able to get 60 minutes of cardio per week, says McDonough. And his two sessions of strength training don’t have to be in the gym, he adds. They can have any form of resistance, such as gravity, hand weights, resistance bands, or lifting a water bottle or can from a cupboard, or a grocery bag.
Cardio, weights, or both? Experts say doing both is your best bet if you want to live longer.
“The greatest health benefits, such as reduced risk of death and chronic disease, and improvements in risk factors such as blood pressure and cholesterol, were seen in people who did both types of exercise, but not one or the other. ’” Angelique, assistant professor of exercise physiology at Iowa State University and co-author of a recent review article titled “Aerobic Exercise vs. Strength Exercise: Which Is Better for You?” Mr Brelentin said:
This review found that aerobic exercise and strength-strengthening exercise independently reduced the risk of death from all causes, but those who did aerobic exercise and weight training had an approximately 40% reduction in the risk of all-cause mortality. , realized the greatest benefits, including a 50% reduction in mortality risk. Risk of death from cardiovascular disease.
