The Health Benefits of Resistance Exercise Training(Per The American Heart Association)
In my medical office, a discussion about preventative health will rarely occur without some talk of the benefits of resistance training (RT). So when the American Heart Association released a 2023 scientific statement supporting resistance training as a safe and effective approach to improve cardiovascular health, I (naturally) poured through the data like the latest Colleen Hoover novel!
There is a lot of great information in the update that you can read here, but I’ve extracted some of the highlights for you below.
● RT is an exercise that evokes muscular contraction against an external force – these exercises may be done with body weight, free weights, weight machines, or resistance bands. The goal to work towards is 2 days/week with 30-60 minutes spent in resistance training. Each training session should involve 8-10 different exercises for the major muscle groups, performed in 1-3 sets of each exercise.
● You will know you are lifting an appropriate-sized weight if you can do approximately 8-12 repetitions of the exercise before muscle fatigue makes you pause. Modifications can be made for lower intensity with higher repetitions when needed.
● The combination of resistance and aerobic therapy is superior to either form of exercise alone in reducing cardiovascular risk factors. Compared to adults who do not exercise, people practicing this combination training had a 40-46% lower risk of CVD and all causes of mortality.
● Less than one-third of US adults report participating in the recommended 2 days per week of resistance training activities.
While every bullet point I collected above is significant and should be considered as you map out your 2024 health goals, let’s think about that last piece of data. Less than one-third of US adults report participating in the recommended 2 days per week of resistance training activities. This means that a HUGE portion of our community is missing out on all the health benefits of this easy and effective workout method!
Implementing resistance training into your routine can help…
Cardiovascular disease: 15% lower risk of all causes of mortality and 17% lower risk of CVD compared to adults who report no RT.
Blood pressure: RT can reduce resting blood pressure, particularly in those studied with prehypertension (a 5-6 mmHg reduction!)
Blood sugar: 17% lower incidence of diabetes. For those with diabetes, RT was associated with a 0.34% decline in hemoglobin a1c.
Cholesterol: Up to 12 mg/dL improvement in high-density lipoprotein levels for persons over 40 years of age
Mental health: RT is associated with enhanced sleep quality, reduced symptoms of depression and anxiety, and improved quality of life.
Women: Improvement in the bone mineral density in femoral neck and spine for pre and postmenopausal women.
Older adults: RT slows the rate of aging-related declines in muscle mass, power, strength, and function also reducing the risk of falls and injury from falls
At LBMD & Associates, we make the time to talk to you about these types of healthy lifestyle interventions. We encourage you to ask us for an “exercise prescription” at your next preventative health visit. We can help you find the perfect pace and fit as you begin your journey.
For now, please reference the following infographics detailing a few common resistance training exercises and a few stats on the benefits of RT – we hope they provide you with a good bit of context as you dive in!
