Benefits of Strength Training as a Key to Longer Life

Strength training protects you against heart attack and stroke

Several studies have shown that, independent of aerobic training, strength training of 1 hour, once a week (or 30 minutes, twice a week), reduces the risk of heart attack and stroke by 70%!

Strength training is the main exercise for the management of diabetes and glucose tolerance

Improving your muscle mass not only increases the number of receptors that pick up glucose and pull it away from the blood stream due to more muscle fibres, but the number of receptors and the efficiency of these receptors improves. Thus improving your glucose tolerance and helping manage diabetes.

Strength training is better overall for cancer management

It has long been shown that people who are stronger and do regular strength training survive better if diagnosed with cancer.  Strength training improves the survival rate, the recovery from any surgery, management during chemo or radiotherapy and overall recurrence.  This is particularly so for breast, colon and prostate cancers.

Strength training helps with better memory and brain function

People with higher grip strength (a proxy for overall body strength) performed higher in memory tests and reaction time.  Again, in a study who lifted weights at least once a week showed significant improvements in cognitive function, such as attention.  It seem to be because strength training releases several chemicals into the brain, such as BDNF, which improve the health of nerves and brain cells.

Overall these are our recommendations:

Keep it simple, and make the following changes to your lifestyle:

• Strength training twice a week, involving most of the major muscle groups.

Our Clinical Exercise/Pilates programs at MD Health focus on strength training and our Physiotherapists and Accredited Exercise Physiologists always ensure that our programs are tailored towards your needs!