While aerobic exercise grabs headlines for its ability to improve heart health, growing evidence suggests that muscle-strengthening workouts are another essential piece of the heart health puzzle.
In fact, establishing a regular resistance training routine could reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease by about 17 percent.
This is because resistance training addresses a number of key risk factors for heart disease, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and high blood sugar, to name a few. Here’s a closer look at the many ways muscle-strengthening moves can keep your heart healthy, as well as how often you need to do them to reap the benefits.
However, weightlifting isn’t a replacement for regular aerobic exercise, so you’ll still want to do at least 30 minutes of traditional cardio most days of the week.
1. Lower blood pressure
Keeping your blood pressure at or below 120/80 mmHg helps reduce your risk of heart attack or stroke, and resistance training – which helps keep your blood vessels functioning properly – can help you achieve or maintain this goal.
A randomized controlled trial found that adults with high blood pressure who did three strength training sessions per week for nine weeks lowered their blood pressure between 4 and 8 points.
2. Better cardiovascular fitness
Aerobic exercise like brisk walking, swimming, or cycling strengthens your heart, helping it pump blood more efficiently throughout your body. But resistance exercises also indirectly help improve your cardiovascular fitness.
For example, strength training improves blood circulation, helps with weight management, and improves heart-healthy biomarkers like high cholesterol and blood pressure.
3. Less inflammation in the body
Chronic inflammation is thought to make blood vessels harder, stiffer and more prone to plaque buildup and blockages, which can lead to a heart attack or stroke.
People who regularly perform muscle-strengthening exercises tend to have lower levels of inflammation over time. A 17-year study found that strength training two or more times per week reduced key markers of inflammation in the body, potentially through improved body composition.
And while it’s not proven that inflammation causes cardiovascular disease, recent clinical trials suggest that inflammation is both a cause and a consequence of heart problems.
4. Reduce Blood Sugar
Healthy blood sugar levels and a healthy heart go hand in hand because high blood sugar, also called hyperglycemia, can lead to blood vessel damage that increases the risk of heart attack or stroke.
Regular strength training can also be helpful because it encourages your body to use insulin, a blood sugar-regulating hormone, more efficiently.
You don’t need to pump iron for hours to reap the benefits, either: Just 60 minutes of resistance training per week can be enough to keep high blood sugar under control.
5. Better sleep
There’s no doubt that strength training can fatigue your body, which can prepare you for falling asleep.
But better sleep quality doesn’t just leave you more rested and refreshed in the morning.
People who get the recommended seven to nine hours of sleep also have a lower risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, heart failure and heart rhythm problems.
If you’re worried that exercising at night might negatively impact your sleep patterns, that’s not always a problem. As long as you finish your sweat session at least an hour before bed, it shouldn’t disrupt your sleep, experts say.
6. Improved Body Composition
Resistance training doesn’t always lead to weight loss, but it helps you build more lean muscle mass and lose body fat.
Changing these ratios toward less body fat — especially less fat around your abdomen — can make a big difference to your heart health. This is because high levels of body fat lead to increased levels of inflammation in the blood vessels, which can increase the risk of problems like a heart attack or stroke.
7. Healthier cholesterol levels
You probably know that high cholesterol is linked to a higher risk of heart attack and stroke, because the buildup of fatty plaque can lead to blockages in the arteries. But you may not know that resistance training can help reduce it.
When done regularly, resistance training can lower your total cholesterol levels by up to 8 points and increase your good cholesterol by up to 12 points.
Experts recommend keeping your total cholesterol below 200 mg/dL, your LDL (“bad”) cholesterol below 100 mg/dL, and your HDL (“good”) cholesterol at 60 mg/dL or higher.
8. More flexible arteries
Weak, inelastic arteries, which become more common with age, can set the stage for cardiovascular disease, but a regular strength training program has been shown to help mitigate these effects.
This is likely because it helps reduce blood pressure and improve blood vessel function.
You don’t have to be an elite athlete to benefit from it either. Just eight weeks of light-to-moderate-intensity resistance training can make your arteries more flexible, according to an analysis of 20 studies involving nearly 1,000 participants, many of whom had high blood pressure.
9. Better mental health
Regular exercisers – including those who regularly resistance train – have been repeatedly shown to have higher rates of well-being and lower rates of depression and anxiety.
And it turns out that what’s good for your mental state is also good for your heart: Higher levels of optimism are linked to a 35 percent reduced risk of heart disease, heart attack and stroke, according to a major review of 15 studies involving nearly 300,000 participants.
Although the mechanisms are not fully understood, experts believe that having a positive attitude makes people more likely to adopt heart-healthy behaviors, like eating healthily and getting enough sleep, for example.
10. Improved quality of life
Exercise, including strength training, is one of the lifestyle behaviors that affects both your psychological and physical health. Research links regular muscle work to a better quality of life in general, especially for older adults.
Lower stress levels, fewer feelings of depression, healthy relationships, satisfying work, a sense of security, and feeling part of your community can all keep your heart healthier and happier.
Who knew a pair of dumbbells or resistance bands could offer so much?
How to get started
You’ll give your heart – and your overall health – a boost by doing 30 to 60 minutes of resistance exercise per week, spread over two to three sessions.
These expert tips can help point you in the right direction:
- Weights and body weight work as resistance. Dumbbells, weight machines, resistance bands, kettlebells, and exercises that use your own weight, like push-ups or lunges, all get the job done. Choose what suits you best.
- Find the right weight or resistance. You know you’ve found your sweet spot if you can complete 10 repetitions of an exercise and still maintain good form. But after the last one or two repetitions, you should feel like you can’t do anything anymore.
- Hit all your major muscle groups. You’ll need a routine that works your chest, back, arms, shoulders, legs, and calves. Aim for movements that work two joints at once, like your elbow and shoulder or your knee and ankle.
- Give yourself some rest. About 48 hours between sessions, to be precise. This gives your muscles plenty of time to recover. But listen to your body: if you need an extra day to feel completely refreshed, it’s best to take it.
If you’re unsure which exercises are right for you or have questions about form, consult a certified personal trainer or physical therapist. A few sessions can get you on the right track and help you avoid injury.
If you’re new to bodybuilding, consult your doctor before starting, especially if you have risk factors for heart health. You may need to limit the weight you lift if you have high blood pressure or have a pacemaker, for example. Your provider can help you choose an exercise program that is safe for you.
Takeaways
- Resistance training promotes heart health by reducing the risk of several serious diseases, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and high blood sugar.
- Strength training can also support overall well-being, including better mental health, better sleep, healthier body composition, and improved quality of life.
- Just 30 to 60 minutes of resistance exercise per week can help improve your heart health, especially when combined with good fitness, balanced routines and guidance from trainers or health professionals, if necessary.
