It’s never too late to start lifting weights, according to a recent study, which found that adding weightlifting to your exercise regime, even in later life, is recommended to avoid an early death.
The study, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, aimed to find out if lifting weights was linked to a lower risk of death from any cause, either on its own or alongside moderate to vigorous exercise.
Moderate-intensity exercise was described as “activity where you worked up a light sweat or increased your breathing and heart rate to moderately high levels”, and vigorous activity as “activity strenuous enough to work up a sweat or increase your breathing and heart rate to very high levels”.
The researchers, led by a team from the National Cancer Institute in Rockville, Maryland, analysed data on just under 100 000 men and women from 10 cancer centres in the US. The participants had an average age of 71 and an average body-mass index of 27.8 (overweight). They followed the group for just shy of a decade, monitoring deaths from any cause, including heart disease.
Around a quarter of people (23%) reported lifting weights, with 16% doing so regularly – between one and six times a week. And around a third (32%) either met or did more than the recommended amount of aerobic exercise.
Weightlifting and aerobic exercise were independently linked with a lower risk of premature death from any cause, except cancer. For adults who reported no aerobic activity, any weightlifting was associated with a 9%-22% lower risk of early death, depending on how often they lifted weights. For those who did not lift weights, but did any level of aerobic exercise, this was 24%-34%.
However, the lowest risk was seen in those who did both weightlifting and aerobic exercise. For example, lifting weights once or twice a week and doing at least the recommended amount of aerobic exercise, had a 41%-47% lower risk of premature death.
The study also found that women benefited more from weightlifting than men.
Explanation for the findings
Possible explanations are that weightlifting may have similar beneficial effects to aerobic exercise. For example, reducing heart disease risk factors by improving blood pressure and blood lipid (cholesterol and triglycerides) profile.
Other recent research that combined studies on muscle strengthening and health outcomes found similar results, but also found a reduced risk of cancer, overall. Perhaps this latest study did not find effects for cancer as it was targeting a population already at higher cancer risk, given the participants were part of a cancer screening programme. The best effects were again seen from combining aerobic and strengthening activity.
Measuring exercise by asking participants to recall how much they exercised over the past year, for example, is a good option for large observational studies of this type, but it can mean over or under-reporting may influence the findings. A study that used digital devices, such as smartwatches, to measure actual activity would provide more accurate results.
People in this study were also recruited as part of a cancer screening trial, so the study would probably recruit people with an interest in health, which means they might be more physically active as a result. This means that in the general population, the risk of earlier death related to not exercising or lifting weights is possibly even higher.
The findings from this study, and others, show that lifting weights, either on their own or with aerobic exercise, can help reduce the risk of early death. It is never too late to start, and the results could be a healthier, longer life.
Study details
Independent and joint associations of weightlifting and aerobic activity with all-cause, cardiovascular disease and cancer mortality in the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial
Jessica Gorzelitz, Britton Trabert, Hormuzd Katki, Steven Moore, Eleanor Watts, Charles Matthews.
Published in The British Journal of Sports Medicine
Abstract
Objectives
Both aerobic moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and muscle-strengthening exercise (MSE) are recommended, but the mortality benefits of weightlifting, a specific type of MSE, are limited.
Methods
In the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial, we used Cox proportional hazards regression to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CIs for the associations between weightlifting and mortality, adjusting for demographics, lifestyle and behavioural risk factors. The sample included 99 713 adults who completed the follow-up questionnaire that assessed weightlifting who were subsequently followed up through to 2016 to determine mortality (median 9, IQR 7.6–10.6 years).
Results
Mean age at the follow-up questionnaire was 71.3 (IQR 66–76) years, 52.6% female, with mean body mass index of 27.8 (SD 4.9) kg/m2. Weightlifting was associated with a 9% lower risk of all-cause mortality (HR=0.91 (95% CI 0.88 to 0.94)) and CVD mortality (0.91 (95% CI 0.86 to 0.97)) after adjusting for MVPA. Joint models revealed that adults who met aerobic MVPA recommendations but did not weightlift had a 32% lower all-cause mortality risk (HR=0.68 (95% CI 0.65 to 0.70)), while those who also reported weightlifting 1–2 times/week had a 41% lower risk (HR=0.59 (95% CI 0.54 to 0.64)), both compared with adults reporting no aerobic MVPA or weightlifting. Without adjustment for MVPA, weightlifting was associated with lower cancer mortality (HR=0.85 (95% CI 0.80 to 0.91)).
Conclusion
Weightlifting and MVPA were associated with a lower risk of all-cause and CVD mortality, but not cancer mortality. Adults who met recommended amounts of both types of exercise appeared to gain additional benefit.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Resistance training vital for older adults
Two decades of sedentary lifestyle doubles premature death risk
Short bursts of intense exercise lower premature death risk
Running as little as 50 minutes a week significantly lowers death risk