Sendai, Japan — Larger muscles may be the key to longer lifespan. According to a Japanese study, lifting weights in the gym or lifting heavy objects around the house for 30 minutes a week can reduce the risk of premature death by up to one-fifth.
Previous studies have shown that muscle building is associated with a reduced risk of death, but scientists have not investigated what the optimal “dose” is. According to researchers at the Graduate School of Medicine, Tohoku University, 30-60 minutes of strength training each week reduces the risk of death from heart disease, diabetes, and cancer by 10-20%. Also, when combined with aerobic exercise, the risk can be reduced by 40%.
Are you a fan of the gym? Scientists say that similar levels of muscle building, such as heavy gardening activities, count as strength training sessions, much like lifting weights or doing push-ups.
Interestingly, however, this study found that longer exercise could not further reduce risk.
Strengthening muscles forms a protective shield for our body
In this study, the study author scrutinized the study database for observational studies in which adults without major health problems were monitored everywhere for 2 to 25 years. They analyzed 16 studies, the first of which was published 10 years ago. Most studies were conducted in the United States and the rest in the United Kingdom, Australia and Japan.
Participants ranged from 18 to 97 years and the number of participants in each study ranged from about 4,000 to about 500,000. Of the studies, 12 included both males and females, 2 included males only, and 3 included females only. They all considered the effects of aerobic exercise, such as running and jumping, as well as strength training.
Muscle-building activity has been associated with all causes, especially reduced risk of death from heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes and lung cancer. ..
However, no association was found between strength training and several forms of cancer, including cancers of the intestines, kidneys, bladder, and pancreas.
Best results were achieved after 30-60 minutes of strength training. People who do strength training and aerobic exercise have an even lower risk of all causes of death, heart disease, and cancer. The results show that people who do both have a 40% lower risk from all causes of death, a 46% lower risk from heart disease, and a 28% lower risk from cancer.
“The combination of muscle strengthening and aerobic exercise may offer greater benefits for reducing all causes, cardiovascular disease, and total cancer mortality,” the author writes. “Given the limited data available, further research is needed, including studies focused on more diverse populations to increase the certainty of the evidence.”
The survey results are British Journal of Sports Medicine..
Southwest News Service writer Gwin Wright contributed to this report.
