Do Muscle-Strengthening Activities Enhance the Mortality Benefit of Aerobic Exercise?

Evidence suggests that regular moderate-to-vigorous aerobic physical activity lowers risk for premature death and that this risk can be lowered further by adding muscle-strengthening activity, such as lifting weights and doing calisthenics. In this prospective cohort study of a representative sample of 500,000 U.S. adults, researchers examined how these activities (self-reported by participants) were associated with mortality.

After median follow-up of 10 years, various combinations of moderate and vigorous aerobic activity (ranging from <75 to >300 minutes weekly) were associated with lower risks for all-cause death, in a roughly dose-response manner. For most combinations of moderate and vigorous aerobic exercise, adding two or more sessio…