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<\/p>\n5 min readKey Points<\/p>\n
Resistance training, a.k.a. strength training, delivers a ton of healthy perks, including building lean muscle mass, increasing bone density, boosting metabolism and improving your overall body composition. Not only can it make you look and feel good, incorporating 90 to 120 minutes of strength training a week may add years to your life, according to a study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine<\/a>.<\/p>\n In fact, the researchers found people who performed moderate amounts of strength training anywhere between 90 and 120 minutes a week had a 13% lower risk of all-cause premature death<\/strong>, a 19% decreased risk of dying from cardiovascular disease and 27% from neurological disease<\/strong>, compared to people who did no resistance training at all. The study also found the strength training benefits leveled off at around 120 minutes per week.<\/p>\n \u201cAlthough the lowest risk of an early death was associated with the 90- to 120-minute range, a decreased risk was seen even at relatively small amounts of resistance training from zero to 30 minutes, 30 to 60 and 60 to 90 minutes,\u201d says Yiwen Zhang, Ph.D., a postdoctoral research fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston and lead author of the study.<\/p>\n Perhaps not surprisingly, the risk reduction was even more prominent when people also added aerobic activity to their regimen. \u201cAerobic activity and resistance training may benefit the body through different but complementary pathways,\u201d Zhang says.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s more of what the researchers uncovered about how resistance training may keep you around longer, and ways to start if you\u2019re new to the strength training game.<\/p>\n