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Strength Training s Surprising Health Benefits

How lifting weights can protect your brain blood sugar mood and more

GETTY IMAGES Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. Resistance training may be protective against depression and anxiety, a new study published earlier this month suggests. When researchers examined 1,100 women ages 45 to 69, they found that those with low upper- and lower-body strength were more likely to show symptoms of both disorders. Another of 33 studies involving more than 1,800 people, published in JAMA Psychiatry, found that those with mild to moderate depression who pumped iron at least twice a week saw significant reductions in their symptoms, compared with those who didn't. “We think it's so powerful both because it increases blood flow to the brain and it also releases mood-enhancing brain hormones such as norepinephrine and dopamine,” says JoAnn Pinkerton, M.D., director of the Midlife Health Center at the University of Virginia Health System in Charlottesville, Va., and executive director of the North American Menopause Society.

Benefit No 2 It lowers your risk of type 2 diabetes

Resistance training builds muscle mass, which enhances insulin sensitivity. “There are two places your body stores carbohydrates — your muscles and your liver,” says Sheri Colberg-Ochs, professor emerita of exercise science at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va. If you don't have much muscle mass, those carbohydrates end up spilling out into your bloodstream, raising blood glucose levels, or being stored by your body as fat. “Most of the time, the fat ends up in your central abdomen, which makes you even more insulin resistant,” Colberg-Ochs adds. But if you have muscle mass, these carbohydrates can go into your muscles and get used through either aerobic or resistance training exercises. It doesn't take much to see results, either. Indeed, published this past March in the Journal of Diabetes Investigation found that when older people in their 60s engaged in low-intensity resistance training twice a week for 16 weeks, they had significant improvements in their blood glucose levels. AARP Membership — $12 for your first year when you sign up for Automatic Renewal Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. Entertainment $3 off popcorn and soft drink combos See more Entertainment offers >

Benefit No 4 It staves off dementia br

Exercise has long been touted for its brain-boosting benefits, but resistance training in particular seems to be protective against MCI, a precursor to dementia. When 100 adults between the ages of 55 and 86 with MCI, they found that those who did strength training twice a week showed significant improvement in their cognitive function after an 18-month period, compared with those who didn't. A 2016 by the researchers, published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, helps explain why. Resistance training appears to thicken the gray matter in a part of the brain that is often affected in early Alzheimer's disease; on the other hand, a control group had shrinkage in that area. “Lifting weights appears not just to help you build muscle, it seems to help you build brain cells, as well,” explains Barbara Resnick, a professor of gerontology at the University of Maryland School of Nursing.

Benefit No 5 It improves symptoms of chronic kidney disease

AARP Membership — $12 for your first year when you sign up for Automatic Renewal Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and weak lower-body strength, particularly around your legs, is a leading risk factor. “You really want to focus on the muscles that help you stand up and catch yourself if you fall off balance — your quads and gluteus, or butt muscles,” Resnick says. One of 17 studies, published in the British Medical Journal, found that older adults who participate in a fall-prevention exercise program that includes strength training see their risk drop by more than a third.

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You don't have to jump into a CrossFit class to see such major health benefits. “Even relatively simple exercises such as a sit-to-stand or wall push-ups can go a long way, particularly if you're just starting to get back into shape,” Resnick says. If you're brand-new to , you can find simple moves on the . If you're no stranger to strength training, though, try taking it up a notch. Interval training, where you alternate between, say, 40 seconds of weight lifting and 20 seconds of rest, has been shown to be particularly effective. Seventy-year-olds who participated in a 10-week interval training program, in which they gradually worked their way up from an 18-minute strength training workout to 36 minutes, lost about two pounds of body fat and gained a pound of muscle — almost triple that of a control group, according to a this past April in the Journal of the American Geriatric Society. More on health AARP Membership — $12 for your first year when you sign up for Automatic Renewal Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. AARP VALUE & MEMBER BENEFITS See more Health & Wellness offers > See more Flights & Vacation Packages offers > See more Finances offers > See more Health & Wellness offers > SAVE MONEY WITH THESE LIMITED-TIME OFFERS