Living a long and healthy life is one of the most common goals that few can achieve. In the hyper-fast-faced world we are living in right now, it can be overwhelming to balance the personal pursuit of wealth, success, and health simultaneously.

However, recent findings from the British Journal of Sports Medicine have suggested that it doesn't have to take too much time to ensure longevity and enhance our healthspan. 30 to 45 minutes of our day dedicated to exercise, particularly strength training, can significantly improve our odds of living longer and minimize the risks of chronic diseases that can lead to the deterioration of our physical and mental well-being.

This article will discuss the benefits of strength training and how you can make it a habit to optimize different areas of your health and fitness.

 

Strength training is also called resistance training or weight training. It is a type of physical exercise that uses resistance to challenge the muscles during contraction. 

Strength training aims to build anaerobic endurance and muscle strength and develop skeletal muscle size or hypertrophy. 

Strength training can be achieved using free weights (dumbbells and barbells), weight machines, body weight (calisthenics), and resistance bands. The resistance creates muscular tension, and the muscles respond by contracting to overcome the resistance.

The term aerobic exercise was popularized in the 1968 book written by Dr. Kenneth Cooper. In his book, Dr. Cooper introduced the concept of cardiovascular fitness to a broad audience and laid out a systematic approach to exercise for enhancing heart health. 

His revolutionary ideas helped spark a global fitness movement, emphasizing the critical role that aerobic exercise plays in overall well-being, disease prevention, and the development of endurance, stamina, and physical vitality.

 

However, science is continuously evolving, and the paradigm is shifting. Today, a growing consensus among researchers and the health community recognizes that strength training is the central fitness component leading to a healthier and longer life.

Once you reach your 50s, strength training is crucial in maintaining your ability to perform the most ordinary tasks of daily living. Having sufficient strength will determine your independence in the later stages of life. 

This is because one of the most impactful effects of aging is the involuntary loss of muscle mass, strength, and overall function. Your muscles decrease in size by approximately 3-8% per decade after age 30. This effect increases even higher when you reach the 60s, making physical activities more challenging.

According to the World Health Organization, adults are recommended to have at least 50 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity per week or a minimum of 75 minutes of vigorous or high-intensity exercise per week.

In addition to aerobic exercise recommendations, two or more days of strength training involving major muscle groups, such as the legs, hips, back, abdomen, shoulders, arms, and chest, are needed for optimal health and fitness.

In a 9.5-year long-term study following 99,713 adults, researchers have found that exercising with weights is associated with a 9 to 22% lower risk of death depending on the frequency of exercise per week. A high frequency of strength training of 2 or more times per week resulted in a 14% lower risk of early death.

Furthermore, participants who consistently met the guidelines for aerobic and strength training per week have a 41 to 47% lower risk of premature death than physically inactive people.

This means that only 1 to 3 hours of weekly aerobic exercise and one to two sessions of strength workouts can significantly improve your longevity and the quality of your life in the long run. To put into perspective, you just need to invest 4% of your weekly waking hours into physical activity.

 

According to the data, people who only lift weights and skip the cardio are still better off than completely sedentary people. But what is it about strength training that makes people live longer?

The key is its impact on metabolic health. Consistent strength training stimulates muscle growth and the breakdown of fats. This ultimately results in body recomposition, allowing you to build lean muscles that consume more calories to develop and maintain compared to fats.

Ultimately, these key effect results in lower blood pressure, reduced inflammatory markers, and controlled blood cholesterol levels, which can affect mortality risk, especially in older adults.

Strength training and brain function

Lifting weights does not only affect the muscles but also brain health. In theory, muscle mass gain through strength training can lead to better and more physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness, allowing optimal blood flow in the brain.

Numerous studies and expert consensus suggest that strength training can decrease the risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease and potentially delay disease progression.

In a longitudinal geriatric study of adults aged 65-86 in Canada, researchers found that decreased muscle mass due to aging is associated with a significant risk of developing cognitive impairment.