Weights based exercises linked to lower risk of death
Written By : Isra Zaman
Medically Reviewed By : Dr. Kamal Kant Kohli
Published On 2022-09-28 04:30 GMT | Update On 2022-09-28 04:30 GMT
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Regularly exercising with weights is linked to a lower risk of death from any cause, with the exception of cancer, finds research carried out in older adults and published online in the British Journal of Sports Medicine and ensuring that a weekly exercise routine includes both weights and aerobic activities seems to have an additive effect, the findings suggested.
All adults are also recommended to incorporate activities that work all the major muscle groups. Yet while aerobic exercise is consistently associated with a lower risk of death, it's not clear if working out with weights might have similar effects.
In a bid to plug this knowledge gap, the researchers set out to evaluate separately and jointly the potential impact of exercising with weights and aerobic activities on the risk of death among older adults.
They drew on participants from the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial. In 2006, 104,002 of the participants were additionally asked if they had exercised with weights over the past year, and if so, how often they had done so-anything from less than once a month to several times a week.
Nearly 23% of respondents reported some weightlifting activity; 16% said they exercised with weights regularly between one to six times a week.
Nearly 32% were sufficiently aerobically active, either meeting or exceeding the guidelines on moderate to vigorous physical activity or MVPA.
Exercising with weights and aerobic MVPA were both independently associated with a lower risk of death from any cause, as well as from cardiovascular disease, but not from cancer.
Overall, working out with weights in the absence of MVPA was associated with a 9-22% lower risk of death, depending on the amount: for example, using weights once or twice a week was associated with a 14% lower risk.
Similarly, among those who didn't exercise with weights, aerobic MVPA was associatedbwith a 24-34% lower risk of death from any cause, compared with those who reported neither MVPA nor exercising with weights.
But the lowest risk of death was seen among those who said they did both types of physical activity.
Reference:
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 doi 10.1136/bjsports-2021-105315,Journal: British Journal of Sports Medicine
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