Live longer by adding strength training to your workout

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Physical activity guidelines At least two days of strength training and 2½ hours of moderate-to-vigorous aerobic physical activity per week are recommended for older adults. Yet many people underestimate muscle strengthening, relying on the heart-pumping benefits of aerobic exercise.

That would be a mistake, a new study found. Independent of aerobic physical activity, adults over age 65 who did strength training two to six times per week lived longer than those who exercised less than two times, according to study author Dr. Bryant Weber, an epidemiologist in the Department of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Health. Obesity at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“We found that each type of physical activity was independently associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality in older adults,” Weber said in an email.

“Those who met only the muscle strengthening guidelines (versus no guidelines) had a 10% lower risk of death, those who met the aerobic guidelines had a 24% lower risk of death, and those who met both guidelines had a 30% lower risk,” he said.

According to published studies, the results apply to all age groups, even the oldest Monday in the JAMA Network Open Journal.

The study found that people age 85 and older who met both the aerobic and muscle strengthening guidelines had a 28% lower risk of dying from any cause compared to people over age 85 who met neither of the guidelines.

“This finding suggests that aerobic and muscle-strengthening physical activity is valuable throughout life,” Weber said.

The study looked at leisure and other physical activities National Health Interview Survey, an ongoing investigation of American health by the CDC. Data on strength training and aerobic activity by age group were then compared with mean eight-year mortality.

The study controlled for demographic and marital status, body mass index, history of smoking or alcohol consumption, and the presence of asthma, cancer, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart disease, hypertension, and stroke.

Looking at strength training data alone, the study found that adults who did two to three sessions or four to six sessions of muscle-strengthening exercise per week had a lower risk of death than adults who did strength training less than twice a week.

Doing more wasn’t beneficial – studies found seven to 28 sessions Weekly strength training Did not provide additional protection.

You don’t have to go to the gym to strengthen your muscles CDC Dr. You can lift weights at home, work out with resistance bands, use your body weight for resistance (for example, push-ups and sit-ups), and dig or shovel in the garden. Even “lifting canned goods can be considered a muscle-strengthening activity,” Weber said.

The goal is to work all the major muscle groups of the body: abs, arms, back, chest, hips, legs and shoulders.

Looking at data on aerobic exercise alone, studies have shown that doing 10 to 300 minutes per week has a lower risk of dying from any cause than doing less than 10 minutes per week.

Aerobic activities can include walking, biking, hiking, raking leaves and lawn mowers, and water exercise.