Mixed
Engaging in muscle-strengthening activities (e.g., resistance training) for 30-60 minutes per week is associated with a 10-20% lower risk of all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease, and total cancer compared to no muscle-strengthening activity.
To lower your risk of death and major diseases, aim for 30-60 minutes of muscle-strengthening activities (like lifting weights or bodyweight exercises) per week. You don't need to do it all at once; breaking it into 2-3 sessions is effective. This benefit exists even if you already do aerobic exercise like walking or running.
Muscle-strengthening activities were associated with a 10–17% lower risk of all- cause mortality, cardiovascular disease (CVD), total cancer, diabetes and lung cancer... J-shaped associations with the maximum risk reduction (approximately 10–20%) at approximately 30–60 min/week of muscle- strengthening activities were found for all- cause mortality, CVD and total cancer
Why this rating
The authors rate the overall certainty of evidence as 'very low' due to indirectness (mostly US cohorts) and heterogeneity, though the association direction is consistent.
Source
Muscle-strengthening activities are associated with lower risk and mortality in major non-communicable diseases: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies
Haruki Momma et al. · British Journal of Sports Medicine · 2022
DOI 10.1136/bjsports-2021-105061
More from this paper
- Muscle-strengthening activities are associated with a 17% lower incidence of diabetes, with risk decreasing markedly up to 60 minutes per week (L-shaped association).Moderate
- Combined muscle-strengthening and aerobic activities provide greater reductions in all-cause, cardiovascular, and total cancer mortality than either activity alone or neither.Limited
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