Include weight-lifting in your daily workouts to boost your longevity

Include weight-lifting in your daily workouts to boost your longevity (Photo: iStock)

Health benefits of physical exercises are well known. This is more so in relation to aerobic exercises whose benefits span from cardiovascular to metabolic. Almost everyone is aware of the recommendation for about 150 minutes of moderate exercises, or 75 minutes of vigorous exercises, per week. What sometimes gets lost in between the recommendations is the benefits of muscular strength training, even for those achieving weekly aerobic activities.

Scientific studies recently brought to light the link between muscle mass, strength and chance of dying. The studies assessed thousands of adults and measured their muscle strength and mass and came up with a scientific definition of low muscle mass and muscle strength. All were then categorized into groups with either normal or low parameters. The results were eye-popping. Those with low muscle strength were more than twice as likely to die over time than those with normal muscle strength. As far as muscle mass alone was concerned, it didn't seem to matter either way. Having low muscle mass but normal strength appeared to be ok. But those with both low muscle strength and mass faired poorly, and were more than twice as likely to die compared to those without either condition.