Lifting weights three times a week may help reduce a person's biological age by almost eight years, a study suggests.
People who did an hour of strength training three times a week had the body of a person significantly younger. Weightlifting has been linked to better bone and muscle health before but the new study of 4,800 people found lifters also had a lower biological age.
"In this national sample, 90 minutes per week of strength training was associated with 3.9 years less biological ageing, on average," the researchers said.
The NHS recommends that adults should be active every day and undertake 150 minutes of moderately intense activity or 75 minutes of vigorous activity every week. It also suggests strengthening activities that work all the major muscle groups, including the legs, back and abdomen, on at least two days a week.
The study looked specifically at the impact of weight training on the body and analysed the length of 'telomeres', the chunks of DNA at the end of chromosomes that act like an aglet on a shoelace and stop genetic material from unravelling and becoming damaged. Previous studies have shown that people with longer telomeres have a longer life expectancy than those with shorter telomeres, as well as showing that telomeres shrink with age.
Analysis of blood samples revealed that those who worked out the most had the longest telomeres, and that working out often also led to more benefits. Every ten minutes a week of weight training was linked to around a five month reduction in biological age, with benefits seen in both men and women as well as people of all ages.
"Correlation does not mean causation. We can't say that lifting caused biological age to decrease," Professor Larry Tucker told The Telegraph.
"All kinds of strength exercises were counted and all types seem to be associated with longer telomeres."
People in the study who lifted weights most often had telomeres containing about 225 more pieces of DNA than those who did not lift weights. "The findings showed that for each ten minutes spent on strength training per week, telomeres were 6.7 base pairs longer, on average," states the study.
"Therefore, 90 minutes per week was predictive of telomeres being 60.3 base pairs longer."
"Because each year was associated with telomeres being 15.47 base pairs shorter in this sample, 90 minutes per week was associated with 3.9 years less biological ageing."
This interpretation suggests an hour three times weekly (180 total) associates with 7.8 years less aging.'
The scientists say weight training may benefit health because it tackles obesity but also reverses muscle loss increases metabolism boosts cardiovascular health
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