According to a study, regularly lifting weights, approximately three times a week, may help decrease a person's biological age by nearly eight years.
Individuals who engaged in a regimen of one hour of strength training, performed three times a week, exhibited physical attributes characteristic of a person significantly under the age of average.
Weightlifting has been associated with improved bone and muscle health in the past, but a new study involving 4,800 individuals discovered that lifters also tended to have a lower biological age.
It is suggested that grown-ups should engage in physical activity daily and reach a weekly total of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity or 75 minutes of high-intensity activity.
It recommends performing strengthening activities that cover the major muscle groups, such as the legs, back, and abdomen, at least twice a week.
The study focused its analysis on the effects of weight training on the body, with a particular interest in the length of 'telomeres', the protective DNA sequences at the end of chromosomes that help maintain the integrity of the genetic material.
Previous research has demonstrated that individuals with longer telomeres possess a greater life expectancy compared to those with shorter telomeres, and it has also been found that telomere length tends to decrease with increasing age.
Studies of blood samples showed that individuals who engaged in the most physical activity tended to have longer telomeres, and that regular exercise was associated with a range of additional advantages.
Weekly weight training has been associated with a five-month reduction in biological age, applicable to both men and women, and individuals of various ages, condensed into approximately five-minute increments per session.
Writing in the journal Biology, the researchers stated that: ‘In this nationwide sample, 90 minutes per week of strength training correspondent to approximately 3.9 years of biological ageing, on average.’
Larry Tucker, a professor of exercise science at Brigham Young University in the US, carried out the study and said that the findings demonstrate a strong correlation, but are unable to prove that weight training leads to longer telomeres.
"It’s impossible to conclude that the reversal of aging was the result of the treatment.
'All types of strength training and various regimes of physical activity are proven to maintain longer telomeres.'
Individuals partaking in regular weightlifting in the study demonstrated telomeres harbouring approximately 225 more segments of DNA compared to their non-exercising counterparts.
The research discovered that for every ten minutes devoted to strength training per week, the average length of the telomeres increased by 6.7 base pairs.
'So, approximately one hour and a half of weekly strength training was linked to telomeres being 60.3 base pairs longer, on average.
For every year of chronological age, telomeres were found to be 15.47 base pairs shorter in this nationwide study. Building up muscle through strength training for just 90 minutes a week was associated with approximately 3.9 years fewer years of biological aging, on average.
This interpretation suggests that engaging in 180 minutes of strength training per week, spaced over three 60-minute sessions, is linked to a biological aging reduction equivalent to approximately 7.8 years.
Experts claim that weight training can have numerous health benefits, including the ability to combat obesity, halt muscle decline, enhance metabolic function, and improve cardiovascular well-being.
By reducing the effects of chronic disease and metabolic risk factors, resistance training appears to slow the biological aging process and reduce cell senescence, which is indicated by longer telomeres, writes Professor Tucker.
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