Add in a few strength training sessions a week to tack years onto your life.
Of all the science-backed health benefits of strength training — building muscle mass, boosting metabolism, reducing body fat, protecting joints, improving mental health, increasing stamina — living longer is probably one of the most important. And yet, it’s not often touted as a primary reason to pick up weights.
Resistance training (aka strength training)— which involves lifting dumbbells, barbells, or kettlebells, using weighted machines, resistance bands, or TRX systems, or performing bodyweight exercises —is essential to any fitness plan, especially if you’re looking to reap all the benefits listed above. And if you want to add years onto your life, look no further than the weight room.
The Anti-aging Health Benefits of Strength Training
“Maintaining lean mass as we age is super important,” explains exercise physiologist Heather Milton, MS, CSCS, Exercise Physiology Supervisor at NYU Langone’s Sports Performance Center. When it comes to the muscle mass in your body, you either use it or lose it as you get older, she says. As people start to age, they often avoid activities like lifting heavy things or strength training for fear of hurting themselves. However, this lack of strength training actually makes them more susceptible to injury.
“[When] older adults are avoiding certain activity… that muscle does start to waste away,” says Milton. “And when that happens, you have less ability to perform work, [you] become more frail, [your] bones start to become more thin, and so forth. All of that leads to a higher risk for morbidity and mortality.” Older adults neglecting strength training also tend to have worse balance and a higher risk of falling, so they continue to avoid these activities, creating a terrible cycle, she notes. “From that perspective, yes, strength training is absolutely important to maintain health and prolong healthy life,” says Milton.
Research has also come out to support that strength training, in particular, is key for maintaining and improving bone density, says Milton. “Every time [you're] contracting a muscle, you're creating stress on the tendon that attaches to bone, so that stimulates the process of bone remodeling,” she explains. So, similarly to how we would use a weight to stress the muscle to build back stronger, the same thing is happening at the tendon and the bone as well.”
This is especially important as you age and your bones become more frail. While the risk of falling and serious injury increases as you get older, Milton emphasizes that strength training can also improve balance and neuromotor control, which can help prevent falls and accidents.
Success They’ve Seen in Clients
“Every human being on this planet should explore resistance training in some capacity,” says Michael Crandall, CSCS, Tier X Coach at E by Equinox in Hudson Yards. Unless specifically advised by a doctor not to strength train, which would be a rare occurrence, strength training should be a part of everyone’s routine, he notes. “[Resistance training] is a large component to increase healthspan, not just lifespan,” he says. As a reminder–healthspan means the number of years you live disease-free, whereas lifespan means the number of years you live.
Crandall adds that the results he’s seen in clients who start resistance training can be “shocking,” especially if they haven’t been training much beforehand. They experience improvements in strength, power, self-confidence, and energy, just to name a few.
“I — and all Equinox coaches — really want their clients to feel confident and able as they head into their latter years,” he says. “We want them to have the confidence to thrive in this world and not feel nervous about aging.” Crandall says that whenever clients start resistance training, he sees them “reach new peaks in their health and fitness that they haven’t experienced before.”
“Not to sound cheesy, but the potential of the human body is outrageous, and we want our clients to know that possibility,” he says.
While cardio gets all the glory for improving aerobic capacity, or the amount of oxygen your body can use during intense exercise, Milton says strength training is important for this, too. When you have more muscle mass on your body, it utilizes oxygen better, therefore boosting stamina. She has seen strength training help people with everyday activities like going up the stairs or carrying groceries without getting breathless.
How to Incorporate Strength Training into Your Fitness Plan
Although cardio has a time and a place in a fitness program — after all, aerobic activity strengthens your heart, increases endurance, and boosts cognitive abilities — you’re doing your body and your mind a disservice if you’re focused only on cardio and not picking up weights.
Generally, beginners should start out with two to three days a week of strength training, with sessions lasting 40 minutes to an hour, the experts advise. As the person progresses and their needs change, it’s typically a good idea to add another day or two of strength training, says Crandall.
Starting out with four to six foundational exercises that target main muscle groups is a good place to begin, suggests Milton. Down the road, you can progress to the recommended eight or so exercises per session.
Of course, it’s always a good idea to seek the guidance of a professional like an Equinox personal trainer, especially if you’re new to strength training. Even if you’ve been working out for years, it’s still beneficial to train with a pro who can help correct your form, program your workouts, push you to lift heavier or do more reps, and set you up for success on your training plan. You want to make sure you are doing the movements properly and not pushing too hard, too soon or harming your body in any way.
On the flip side, people can also get complacent with strength training, which is not doing their body any favors. To get the most out of resistance training, it’s crucial to practice progressive overload, or gradually increasing the resistance as you continue to strength train.
“We have to use enough weight to stress the system enough to get adaptation,” Milton explains. “You want to start slow and build up, but you do want to continue to build, so you don't want to have five-pound dumbbells and continuously do that and not progress past that, because you're not going to get the return on your investment.” If you’re lifting a heavy enough weight, it should be very challenging by the last rep (aim for 10 to12 reps per set), to the point where you feel out of breath and cannot do more than two additional reps, she says.
And even though you can benefit from bodyweight movements, Milton says your body adapts to those exercises quickly. “We carry our body weight around with us day to day and so if we're doing bodyweight squats, there's only so much adaptation that will happen before you do need to add some resistance to that movement.”
You heard it here first: If you want to live a long, healthy life, make sure you hit the weight room.