Is Lifting Weights Good for Your Heart?
The Benefits of Strength Training for Cardiovascular Health
Are you aware of the impact strength training has on your cardiovascular health? It’s time to move beyond just endurance exercises and give strength training its due attention.
How much strength training is enough?
The latest research recommends at least two sessions of progressive resistance exercise per week for optimal heart health.
Do this, and pumping iron will prove to pump up your heart health.
Here’s why you shouldn’t overlook strength training in your exercise regime.
Here’s how weightlifting is good for your heart
From improving blood flow to lowering blood pressure, studies have shown that the connection between weightlifting and a strong cardiovascular system is irrefutable. In fact, strength training can reduce many of the risk factors associated with heart disease.
Here are the five major heart health benefits of weight training.
1. Strength training helps to maintain healthy cholesterol levels
Incorporating strength training into your exercise routine not only pumps up your heart’s strength but also helps maintain healthy cholesterol levels.
A study published in the National Library of Medicine, ‘Effect of Strength Training on Lipid and Inflammatory Outcomes’, found that strength training has a significant impact on cholesterol levels. The research demonstrated that strength training can lower total and LDL (bad) cholesterol while increasing HDL (good) cholesterol.
We know that increasing HDL cholesterol through strength training is the only risk factor that is considered to be a ‘negative’ risk factor. This means that having higher levels of HDL cholesterol actually decreases your risk of cardiovascular disease.
2. Lifting weights lowers blood pressure
Incorporating weightlifting into your exercise routine can help regulate and improve overall cardiovascular health because weightlifting lowers blood pressure.
Studies demonstrate that resistance training alone can significantly reduce both systolic and diastolic blood pressure in both pre-hypertensive and hypertensive individuals, and that ‘dynamic resistance training may elicit blood pressure reductions that are comparable to or greater than those reportedly achieved with aerobic exercise training.’
3. Strength Training Helps Manage Blood Sugar Levels
Strength training plays a crucial role in managing blood sugar levels. This can be especially important for individuals with type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetes.
Many research studies have found that resistance training improves glycemic control and muscle strength in patients with type 2 diabetes. Scientists have also found that patients with a long history of diabetes respond positively to resistance training, and current inactivity should not deter these patients from beginning an exercise program.
Further studies have also found that there’s a strong association between high-intensity resistance training with effective management of HbA1c and insulin levels in patients with T2D.
When you engage in resistance exercise, such as weightlifting, your muscles use glucose as fuel, which helps regulate blood sugar levels. In addition, strength training can increase insulin sensitivity, allowing your cells to better use insulin to regulate blood sugar levels.
4. Strength training helps you maintain a healthy body weight
Strength training is a valuable tool for maintaining a healthy body weight.
When you engage in resistance exercise, such as weightlifting, you build muscle mass. In turn, this increases your metabolism, helping you burn more calories even when you’re not exercising. Additionally, strength training can increase your overall physical activity levels, further aiding in weight management.
A meta-analysis conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health found that people who engage in muscle-strengthening workouts are less likely to die prematurely compared to those who don’t. The study found that those who did 30 to 60 minutes a week of strength training had a 10% to 20% lower risk of dying during the study period from all causes, especially cancer and heart disease, compared to those who did no strength training.
Such findings indicate that strength training can not only help maintain healthy body weight but also improve overall health and longevity.
5. Strength training helps you to be healthy enough to participate in aerobic exercise
“There are a lot of physiological adaptations that make us more efficient in producing energy aerobically or with oxygen,” says Dr. Adrienne Lufkin, PT at Reload. “Strength training plays a crucial role in these adaptations.”
By building and strengthening muscles, resistance exercise increases the amount of oxygen they can use. This helps to develop and improve your ability to participate in aerobic exercise such as running, cycling, or swimming. Furthermore, strength training can improve cardiovascular health and endurance, allowing you to perform aerobic exercise for longer periods of time.
Is strength training good for your heart? Bank on it!
Numerous studies have shown that strength training delivers numerous benefits for your cardiovascular health. From improving cholesterol levels to managing blood pressure and blood sugar levels to helping you maintain a healthy weight, and even being healthy enough to participate in aerobic exercise, weightlifting is a valuable tool for improving overall heart health.
In short, strength training is an important component of a well-rounded exercise regimen, allowing you to participate in the full range of physical activity and leading to improved overall health and wellness.
However, everyone’s body and goals are different. Therefore, it’s essential to get a professional assessment to create a personalized plan tailored to your lifestyle and any other unique constraints.
At Reload, we offer a personalized 90-minute physical therapy evaluation to create a plan specific to your needs. Don’t wait to become a heart health statistic. Invest in your heart health today and start reaping the benefits of strength training.
Your first step is to book a 90-minute physical therapy evaluation with us.
