Harvard reveals how long you should lift weights each week to lower Alzheimer's and early death risk
A major new study has revealed exactly how much time you need to spend lifting weights each week in order to significantly lower your risk of developing Alzheimer's disease and dying prematurely.
Researchers from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health analysed three decades of data from almost 150,000 adults across three separate long-running studies, tracking how much resistance and aerobic exercise participants did over time.
The findings, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine on June 2, offer a clear target for anyone looking to boost their long-term health through strength training alone.
How much weight lifting reduces Alzheimer's risk?
According to the study, people who spent between 90 and 120 minutes a week doing resistance exercises, including pushups, squats, lunges or weightlifting, had a 13 percent lower risk of dying from any cause compared to those who skipped strength training entirely.
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The benefits were even more striking for specific conditions. Participants in that 90-to-120-minute bracket saw a 19 percent reduced risk of dying from heart disease and a 27 percent lower risk of death from neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's.
Interestingly, the research found that doing more than 120 minutes of resistance training a week didn't provide any extra benefit, suggesting there's a sweet spot rather than a "more is better" approach.
Can cardio cut Alzheimer's risk?
The study also explored what happened when people combined strength training with aerobic activities like running, swimming, cycling or tennis, and the results were striking. Those who did both forms of exercise saw their mortality risk drop by as much as 45 percent compared to people who did neither.
Speaking to Everyday Health about the findings, study co-author Edward Giovannucci stressed that the routine doesn't need to be intimidating for beginners.
"For people who are less active, the key message is that small amounts can still matter," he said. "Building a routine gradually may be more important than trying to do a lot at once."
Experts also pointed out that resistance training doesn't require a gym membership or expensive equipment. Everyday household items like tinned food or filled water bottles can offer a simple way to get started, and sessions can be broken up across the week into shorter bursts rather than tackled in one long session, making the target far more achievable for people with busy schedules or limited access to gym facilities.
Thomas Bamford