The benefits of strength training just keep piling up. Following on the heels of a June 2018 report indicating that resistance training is associated with a significant reduction in depression comes a new report stating that strength training can improve many risk factors of cardiovascular disease.

The results, published this fall in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise and reported on by The New York Times, conclude that engaging in regular resistance training was associated with a 40% to 70% decrease in the risk of cardiovascular disease events such as heart attack and stroke.

And the great news did not stop there! Concurring with other recent findings, the report states that the cardiovascular benefits of regular resistance training can be achieved in very little time—in just 1 to 3 sessions, for a total training time of between 1 and 59 minutes, per week! Indeed, people who lifted weights on two occasions for just under an hour in total each week showed the greatest declines in cardiovascular disease risk. That amount and frequency of training will sound quite familiar to Persevera members, most of whom train with us once or twice, for 30 to 60 minutes in total, per week.

And you won’t need to spend several additional hours per day on a treadmill to improve your heart health. According to the study, the cardiovascular benefits of resistance training were apparent even for subjects who did not engage in separate aerobic exercise.

So find 30 to 60 minutes per week to lift some weights. Your heart will thank you.