Lifting weights three times a week can help reduce a person’s biological age by almost eight years, a study suggests.
People who did one hour of strength training three times a week had the body of a significantly younger person.
Weightlifting has previously been linked to better bone and muscle health, but the new study of 4,800 people found that the lifters also had a lower biological age.
The NHS recommends that adults be active every day and do 150 minutes of moderately intense activity or 75 minutes of vigorous activity each week.
It also suggests strengthening activities that work all major muscle groups, including the legs, back, and abdomen, at least two days a week.
The study specifically looked at the impact of weight training on the body and looked at the length of “telomeres,” the pieces of DNA at the end of chromosomes that act like an aggro on a shoelace and prevent genetic material from spreading. fall apart and be damaged.
Previous studies have shown that people with longer telomeres have a longer life expectancy than those with shorter telomeres, and that telomeres shorten with age.
Analysis of blood samples revealed that those who exercised more had longer telomeres and that exercising often also generated more benefits.
Lifting weights three times a week can help reduce a person’s biological age by almost eight years, study suggests (file image)
People who did one hour of strength training three times a week had the body of a significantly younger person (file image)
Every ten minutes a week of weight training was associated with a reduction of approximately five months in biological age, and the benefits were seen in both men and women, as well as people of all ages.
The researchers wrote in the journal Biology: “In this national sample, 90 minutes of weekly strength training was associated with 3.9 fewer years of biological aging, on average.”
Larry Tucker, a professor of exercise science at Brigham Young University in the United States, conducted the study and said the work shows a strong correlation, but cannot prove that weight lifting causes longer telomeres.
‘Correlation does not mean causation. “We cannot say that the uprising has caused a decrease in biological age,” he told The Telegraph.
“All types of strength exercises were counted and all types of exercise appear to be associated with longer telomeres.”
The people in the study who lifted weights more frequently had telomeres that contained about 225 more DNA fragments than those who did not lift weights.
“The results showed that for every ten minutes per week dedicated to strength training, telomeres were 6.7 base pairs longer, on average,” the study states.
The NHS recommends that adults be active every day and do 150 minutes of moderately intense activity or 75 minutes of vigorous activity each week (file image)
“Thus, 90 minutes per week of strength training predicted telomeres to be 60.3 base pairs longer, on average.
‘Because each year of chronological age was associated with telomeres that were 15.47 base pairs shorter in this national sample, 90 minutes per week of strength training was associated with 3.9 fewer years of biological aging, on average .
“This interpretation suggests that one hour of strength training three times a week (180 minutes total) was associated with 7.8 fewer years of biological aging.”
Scientists say weight training can be good for a person’s health and life expectancy because it combats obesity, but also reverses muscle loss, increases metabolism and improves cardiovascular health.
“By reducing the effects of chronic diseases and metabolic risk factors, resistance training appears to slow the biological aging process and reduce cellular senescence, evidenced by longer telomeres,” writes Professor Tucker.