A Heartening Look at Strength Training

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A Heartening Look at Strength Training

When it comes to improving heart health, cardiovascular exercise

gets all the respect. You make your heart pump harder on a regular

basis, the thinking goes, and your heart muscle gets stronger. Makes

sense.

What's less immediately obvious is how strength training - non-

aerobic activity that it typically is - also helps the heart.

Because weight-lifting, resistance exercises and other forms of

strength training help control body weight, they can play a major

role in preventing heart disease.

The key here is muscle mass and metabolic rate. Strength training

increases lean muscle tissue and reduces body fat. And muscle tissue

is very " active, " burning up more calories than fatty tissue, even

during rest. The more calories you burn, the better your weight is

controlled - and the lower your risk is for coronary artery disease.

Strength training also has an impact on other potentially deadly

conditions. Studies have shown that strength training reduces

resting blood pressure, increases bone density (thereby reducing

osteoporosis risks), enhances glucose metabolism (thereby bolstering

defenses against adult-onset diabetes), and speeds up

gastrointestinal processes (possibly adding protection against colon

cancer). Best of all, moderate strength-training - just 25 minutes,

three days a week - is all that's needed to gain these disease-

prevention benefits.