Weight Lifting: Can Strength Training Boost Your Heart Health?

Strength training, also known as resistance or weight training, involves exercises that make your muscles work against a form of resistance such as free weights, resistance bands, or your own body weight. While it's traditionally associated with building muscle and improving physical strength, research increasingly shows that strength training also offers significant benefits for heart health. It can help lower blood pressure, reduce body fat, improve cholesterol levels, and enhance circulation. Keep reading as we share how strength training can boost your cardiovascular health.

10 Ways strength training boosts your heart health

1. Lowers blood pressure

Strength training helps relax blood vessels and improve their elasticity, making it easier for blood to flow. Over time, this can lead to lower resting blood pressure levels, reducing strain on the heart.

2. Reduces bad cholesterol (LDL)

Resistance exercises have been shown to decrease levels of LDL (bad cholesterol) while maintaining or even increasing HDL (good cholesterol), leading to better arterial health and a lower risk of plaque buildup.

3. Aids weight loss and reduces body fat

By building lean muscle mass, strength training increases your resting metabolic rate, meaning you burn more calories even at rest. This helps reduce excess fat, particularly visceral fat that surrounds vital organs, which is a key contributor to heart disease.

4. Improves blood circulation

The act of contracting and relaxing muscles during strength exercises improves blood flow and circulation. Better circulation ensures your heart doesn't have to work as hard to deliver oxygen and nutrients throughout the body.

5. Enhances insulin sensitivity

Strength training helps muscles absorb glucose more efficiently, reducing insulin resistance and lowering the risk of type 2 diabetes, a major risk factor for heart disease.

6. Reduces inflammation

Chronic inflammation is a known contributor to heart disease. Regular strength workouts help lower inflammatory markers in the body, thereby promoting cardiovascular health.

7. Strengthens the heart muscle

Just like other muscles, the heart becomes stronger and more efficient with regular training. Strength training improves cardiac output and endurance, making everyday physical tasks easier and less taxing on the heart.

8. Improves heart rate variability (HRV)

A higher HRV indicates a healthy, adaptable heart. Strength training positively influences HRV by helping your body manage stress more efficiently and improving nervous system balance.

9. Lowers stress levels

Strength training stimulates the release of endorphins (natural mood lifters) and reduces levels of cortisol, the stress hormone. Since stress is closely linked to high blood pressure and heart issues, reducing it is crucial for heart health.

10. Encourages overall healthy lifestyle habits

People who strength train regularly are more likely to adopt other heart-healthy behaviours such as eating better, sleeping well, and avoiding smoking or excessive alcohol, creating a comprehensive protective effect on cardiovascular health.

Adding regular strength training to your routine can be just as vital for cardiovascular health as aerobic exercise.

Disclaimer: This content including advice provides generic information only. It is in no way a substitute for a qualified medical opinion. Always consult a specialist or your own doctor for more information. NDTV does not claim responsibility for this information.