After 30 years of tracking 147,374 people across three major health studies, researchers have pinpointed a remarkably specific target for strength training: 90 to 120 minutes per week appears to be the dose that delivers the strongest protection against early death.
The finding, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, matters because while doctors have long championed aerobic exercise—running, swimming, cycling—the role of muscle-strengthening activity in extending life has remained largely mysterious. This study finally clarifies the picture, revealing that lifting weights or doing bodyweight exercises like push-ups, squats, and lunges can be just as vital for longevity as cardio, and that more is not necessarily better.
The researchers drew data from three continuous monitoring studies: the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (1992–2022), the Nurses' Health Study (2002–21), and the Nurses' Health Study II (2003–21). Participants, who averaged 54 years old at the study's start, reported their weekly exercise habits every two years for up to three decades. During those 30 years, 35,798 participants died—a grim but crucial data point that allowed scientists to correlate specific exercise patterns with mortality outcomes.
The numbers tell a compelling story. Those who performed 90 to 119 minutes of strength training weekly showed a 13% lower risk of death from any cause compared to those who did no strength training. But the benefits didn't climb higher with additional training—capping out at 120 minutes per week. When it came to specific diseases, the protection was even more dramatic: 19% lower risk of cardiovascular death and 27% lower risk of neurological death at that same 90–120 minute threshold. Interestingly, cancer risk only dropped at lower doses—21% lower at 1 to 29 minutes per week—suggesting that strength training's protective effects vary by disease type.
The real magic happened when people combined strength training with aerobic exercise. Those doing 30 to 44 MET hours per week of aerobic activity (a measure of calorie expenditure relative to rest) plus 60 to 119 minutes of strength training saw their mortality risk plummet by 45%. Those hitting even higher aerobic thresholds showed reductions of 53% to 58%, regardless of how much strength training they added. For context, 74% of the study participants already exceeded the recommended 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise, suggesting that many people focus on cardio and neglect resistance work—a potential oversight.
The study does carry important caveats. Because participants self-reported their exercise, recall bias is possible. The researchers also couldn't account for variables like how intensely people performed their strength training or how long each session lasted. And the study remains observational, meaning causation cannot be definitively proven—only association.
Still, the researchers' conclusion is clear: different forms of exercise protect against different health threats, and a balanced approach combining both aerobic and strength work offers the best insurance against premature death. For people searching for a simple prescription, the answer is refreshingly concrete: spend your strength-training minutes between 90 and 120 per week, keep moving aerobically, and let the data do the rest.