{"id":628940,"date":"2026-06-09T09:25:25","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T09:25:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/628940\/"},"modified":"2026-06-09T09:25:25","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T09:25:25","slug":"best-strength-training-for-longevity-how-many-minutes-a-week-should-you-lift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/628940\/","title":{"rendered":"Best Strength Training For Longevity: How Many Minutes A Week Should You Lift?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Strength training has so many benefits<\/a>, it\u2019s hard to keep count. It\u2019s been linked to<\/a> up to four years of extra life, can help <\/a>to protect us from falls as we age, may reduce dementia risk<\/a>, and could maintain your bone health<\/a>… the list goes on.<\/p>\n

A new paper published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine<\/a> has added clarifying details for those hoping to see the most benefits from the activity. <\/p>\n

After 30 years of follow-up from 147,374 participants, they found the optimum amount of lifting and resistance training per week for longevity. <\/p>\n

How much strength training should I do per week? <\/p>\n

This research found<\/a> that the lowest risk of all-cause mortality was linked to one to two hours (60-119 minutes) of resistance training, especially if it was done alongside aerobic training. <\/p>\n

The benefits of strength training seemed to \u201cplateau\u201d at two hours a week in this study, meanwhile. <\/p>\n

Speaking to HuffPost UK previously<\/a>, Dr Suzanne Wylie, GP and medical adviser for IQdoctor<\/a>, said: \u201cI would generally advise at least two sessions of strength training per week, focusing on all the major muscle groups\u201d.<\/p>\n

How much of a difference does one to two hours a week of strength training make? <\/p>\n

60-120 minutes of strength training a week was linked to 13% lower all-cause mortality risk, The risk of death from cardiovascular disease, like heart attack or stroke, was 19% lower, The risk of death from dementia was 27% lower, The risk of all-cause mortality was 58% lower when 90-120 minutes of strength training was combined with a high level of aerobic activity (30-45 hours a week). <\/p>\n

What counts as resistance or strength training? <\/p>\n

You don\u2019t always need weights to do strength training.<\/p>\n

Dr Wylie formerly told us that strength training \u201cmight include bodyweight exercises like squats, push-ups, or step-ups, or using resistance bands or weights at home or in the gym\u201d.<\/p>\n

The point is that your muscles work against <\/a>a form of resistance, be that a dumbbell or your own weight.<\/p>\n

She added, \u201cThe emphasis should be on steady, safe progression rather than attempting heavy lifts immediately\u201d. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Strength training has so many benefits, it\u2019s hard to keep count. It\u2019s been linked to up to four…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":628941,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[6647,102,6958,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-628940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fitness","tag-fitness","tag-health","tag-longevity","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=628940"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628940\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/628941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=628940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=628940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=628940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}