Lifting weights is healthier for the heart than going for a run or a walk

brentopia

Yay! So glad to read this... not being a cardio fan... lol.

Weight lifting better for heart health than running, new study finds

Article blurb: "Lifting weights is healthier for the heart than going for a run or a walk, new research has found.

Scientists looking at the health records of more than 4,000 people have concluded that, while both forms of exercise reduce the risk of developing heart disease, static activities such as weight lifting or press-ups have a greater effect than an equivalent amount of dynamic exercise such as running, walking or cycling.

The research challenges commonly held assumption that so-called “cardiovascular” pursuits like running are of greatest benefit to the heart."

zyxst

It means I won't have to listen to the "rah rah weight lifting rulz" mantra for long because I will die from a heart attack sooner.

amusedmonkey

"so-called"? Running is a cardiovascular activity by definition because it raises heart rate, there is no "so-called" about it. Such language shows the article is anything but objective and is very poorly written. I wouldn't be surprised they're also misreading or misrepresenting the study. Without a link to the study or at least its name, there is no way to know how well it was conducted (if leisurely walking was counted as a cardio activity, for example) and what the actual results were.

Either way, being active is good be it static or dynamic or both. Being active doing what you enjoy is even better because you're more likely to keep doing it.

lorrpb

"patients who did both types of physical activity fared better than patients who simply increased the level of one type of activity."

AnvilHead

lorrpb wrote: »

"patients who did both types of physical activity fared better than patients who simply increased the level of one type of activity."

Amazing how stuff like that gets lost in the translation sometimes.

Keto_Vampire

Heart = muscle that should be trained regularly

Well, I think that title needs some re-thinking of word choice...reminds me of many of these 1 vs. 2 drug studies showing better outcomes using 2 drugs with different mechanisms over 1 drug (><).

sijomial

In reality it seems to be saying that people who lift weights might be heart healthier in general than people who don't.

But is that due the people's entire lifestyle or just because of the lifting?
Do they tend to be wealthier?
Devote more time and effort to all aspects of their health?
Tend to control their bodyweight better? etc. etc.

It's not taking a large sample of people and then giving them two different exercise routines and plotting the outcome over time and you can't present the study that way.

I also wonder how accurate are these "health records" as regards exercise choice anyway. My exercise choices (that's both types by the way) aren't on my Doctor's medical records let alone the volume of my exercise. My private Physio and Osteopath know about my exercise but that data isn't public.

MikePTY

The best thing about sports/weight loss science is that there is so much of it out there and it so much of it says different things that there is plenty to choose from to back up whatever preexisting beliefs that you have .

IMO, the best and healthiest type of exercise is the exercise you'll actually do. Whether that is running, lifting weights, walking, dancing, doing cartwheels while singing, whatever it is. If you like doing it enough that you can keep it up and it doesn't feel like a complete chore, then that is the type of exercise that is best for you.

brentopia

Good grief... if you just popped in to read this - ignore some of the overly negative posts. The sky is not falling, the article is not saying to give up cardio or that cardio is not good for you. It's simply saying that it seems weight lifting is as good for your heart as cardio. And if you do both, that's even better. Take a deep breath, everything is okay. Lol. Didn't intend to blow everyone's mind.

PWRLFTR1

Love this! It verifies my window decal

GiddyupTim

Press release on another recent study with surprisingly similar findings.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/11/181113115430.htm