Are the benefits of weight training as good as aerobic training? Japanese study: 1 hour per week can reduce mortality by 20%
Muscle building reduces mortality? Cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular risk lowered, study says
Regular exercise has many health benefits. Aerobic exercise such as jogging, brisk walking, cycling or swimming is believed to improve cardiovascular disease, chronic diseases and chronic inflammation. In comparison, can strength training and muscle gain also reduce mortality and improve the risk of non-communicable diseases?
Tohoku University in Japan conducted a comprehensive analysis of “muscle-strengthening exercise” and tried to find the answer based on adults’ weekly muscle exercise time. The research team used 16 studies published between 2012 and 2020, including the effects of resistance training, weight training and aerobics on subjects’ health. However, the “labor” of carrying heavy objects in daily work or leisure time is not included in weight training.
The Northeastern University research team claims that each study involves thousands of subject samples and is regularly tracked for at least two years, so the data has a certain degree of credibility. The results found that muscle-strengthening exercise among adults over 18 years old was associated with a 10-20% lower risk of overall death. In addition, long-term muscle training is “inversely related” to cardiovascular disease, lung cancer, diabetes and overall mortality, indicating that the risk of these diseases may be reduced.
Study author Takanori Honda pointed out that muscle strengthening helps improve the quality of skeletal muscle tissue and plays a key role in glucose metabolism. Abnormalities in glucose metabolism may lead to higher rates of cardiovascular disease and cancer. Honda even stated that 30-60 minutes of muscle-strengthening training per week has the most obvious health benefits in reducing mortality, cardiovascular disease and cancer, while more than 60 minutes will have no obvious effect.
Will only doing strength training without doing aerobic muscle mass decrease?
However, given the limitations of the data, Honda believes that more research is needed to prove the benefits of muscle training in reducing mortality. American gynecological oncologist Steve Vasilev believes that if muscle-strengthening training is not accompanied by aerobic exercise, the health benefits may not be as great as the public imagines.
“Many research evidence shows that the benefits of strength training are difficult to surpass aerobic exercise.” Steve Vasilev said that people who are usually sedentary, stay up late, or eat an unbalanced diet can use appropriate resistance training combined with aerobic exercise. Together with high-intensity training, it does have a positive effect on preventing obesity and diabetes.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recommends that adults should perform muscle-strengthening training at least twice a week, including weightlifting, resistance band exercises, deadlifts, bench presses, and squats. HHS also recommends that elderly people over the age of 65 engage in strength training to help reduce the risk of degenerative diseases such as osteoporosis or arthritis.
It is worth noting that most current statements do not recommend exercising the same muscle group on two consecutive days. HHS stated that those who perform upper body resistance training on the first day should take sufficient rest or perform aerobic exercise on the second day. Training for days on end will affect protein synthesis, making it harder for muscles to recover from soreness. It is recommended to consume good sources of protein during training and develop the habit of getting enough sleep to gain better muscle mass.
Source:
Muscle-strengthening exercises may lower risk of death
How to Obtain Your Copy of the 2015–2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans
Further reading:
