It’s well known that aerobic exercise, such as running and cycling, can help you live longer, but less is known about the effect of lifting weights on longevity. Now, the results of a new study suggest that adding weightlifting to your exercise regimen, even later in life, is a sensible thing to do if you want to avoid an untimely death.
The study, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicineaimed to determine whether lifting weights was linked to a lower risk of death from any cause, alone or alongside moderate-to-vigorous exercise.
Moderate-intensity exercise has been described as “activity where you sweat lightly or increase your breathing and heart rate to moderately high levels”, and vigorous activity as “activity intense enough to sweat or increase your breathing and your heart rate to very high levels”.
The researchers, led by a team from the National Cancer Institute in Rockville, Maryland, analyzed data from just under 100,000 men and women from ten cancer centers across the United States. The participants had an average age of 71 years and an average body mass index of 27.8 (overweight). They tracked the group for just under a decade, monitoring deaths from all causes, including heart disease.
Around a quarter of people (23%) said they lift weights, with 16% doing so regularly – between one and six times a week. And about a third (32%) achieved or did more than the recommended amount of aerobic exercise.
Weightlifting and aerobic exercise were independently linked to a lower risk of premature death from any cause except cancer.
For adults who reported no aerobic activity, any weightlifting activity was associated with a 9-22% lower risk of premature death, depending on how often they lifted weights. For those who didn’t lift weights, but did any level of aerobic exercise, it was 24%-34%.
However, the lowest risk was seen in those who did both weightlifting and aerobic exercise. For example, lifting weights once or twice a week and doing at least the recommended amount of aerobic exercise had a 41-47% lower risk of premature death.
The study also found that women benefited more from weightlifting than men.

Explanation of results
Possible explanations for these results are that weightlifting may have benefits similar to aerobic exercise. For example, reducing risk factors for heart disease by improving blood pressure and blood lipid profile (cholesterol and triglycerides).
Other recent research that combined studies of muscle building and health outcomes found similar results, but also found a reduction in cancer risk, overall. Perhaps this new study did not find effects for cancer because it targeted a population already at higher cancer risk, given that the participants were part of a cancer screening program. The best effects were again seen when combining aerobic and strengthening activity.
Measuring exercise by asking participants to recall how much exercise they have done over the past year, for example, is a good option for large observational studies of this type, but it can mean that over-reporting or under-reporting can influence the results. A study using digital devices, such as smartwatches, to measure actual activity would provide more accurate results.
The people in this study were also recruited as part of a cancer screening trial, so the study would likely recruit people with an interest in health, meaning they might be more physically active. Consequently. This means that in the general population, the risk of early death from not exercising or lifting weights may be even higher.
The results of this study, and others, show that lifting weights, alone or with aerobic exercise, can help reduce the risk of premature death. Lifting weights should be a lifetime commitment. He is never too late to startand the results could be a healthier and longer life.