Strength training: The secret weapon for women’s heart health

A recent study found that women who regularly engaged in strength training had a lower risk of major cardiovascular disease, particularly heart attacks. Courtesy Dana Santas via CNN Newsource

For decades, the prescription for better heart health has centred around aerobic exercise and moving more: Get in your steps and avoid sitting too much. That advice isn’t wrong, but new research suggests another important piece of the puzzle.

A recent study found that women who regularly engaged in strength training, also known as resistance training, had a lower risk of major cardiovascular disease, particularly heart attacks.

Women who performed two or more hours of resistance training weekly had a 20 per cent lower risk of major cardiovascular disease and a 44 per cent lower risk of heart attacks compared with those who did none.

To help women reap the heart benefits of strength training, I’ve created an easy-to-follow strength routine that reflects the report’s findings. Read on to learn why and how to start integrating resistance training into your weekly fitness regimen.

A single exercise style doesn’t build a healthy heart

The most important finding from the study wasn’t simply that strength training was beneficial; it was that the women with the lowest cardiovascular risk combined three healthy fitness habits.

Study participants with the lowest risk met the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans of at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity (or 75 minutes of vigorous activity) each week while also performing regular resistance training. This group also spent less than two hours per day watching television, the study’s measure of sedentary behavior.

The research findings support that heart health isn’t built from a single type of workout but by moving throughout the day and following a well-rounded fitness program that includes resistance exercise.

Too many people still view exercise as a way to compensate for an otherwise sedentary lifestyle. But our bodies respond best to consistent, varied activity.

Strength training’s role in heart health

Unlike aerobic exercise, which primarily challenges your cardiovascular system, strength training places a greater demand on your muscular system. Resistance exercise — using your own body weight, bands or weights — builds and preserves muscle mass. The activity also supports blood sugar regulation and improves metabolic health. These physiological adaptations may play a role in counteracting cardiovascular risk factors, according to the authors of the study published June 17 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

The researchers noted that strength training may influence specific pathways related to coronary artery disease. Engaging in a regular practice may improve blood flow, how the body processes fats, and the stability of plaque buildup in the arteries — possibly explaining why the strongest benefits were observed for heart attack risk.

The study, which followed more than 117,000 women for an average of 14.5 years, did not reveal the same relationship between strength training and stroke risk, suggesting different mechanisms cause a stroke that are less responsive to the benefits of resistance exercises.

More research is needed to better understand the different factors involved in comprehensive cardiovascular disease prevention, but the current data is clear about one point: Strength training is an important component of heart health.

Integrating strength training into a heart-healthy lifestyle

Although HHS guidelines recommend strength training at least two days per week, the study found the greatest reductions in heart attack risk among women who consistently did two or more hours of weekly resistance training.

Training both the upper and lower body led to greater cardiovascular benefits than focusing on only one region, according to the researchers.

With that in mind, I created a practical 30-minute total body workout you can do four days per week to reach the two-hour threshold associated with lower rates of cardiovascular disease and heart attack.

The routine challenges both upper and lower body through all three planes of motion and major movement patterns: pushing, pulling, hinging, squatting and core stabilization. To create resistance, you only need your own body weight and a single dumbbell in a weight appropriate for your current fitness level. I recommend starting between 3 and 10 pounds.

Important note: Consult your doctor before beginning this or any new exercise program. Stop immediately if you experience pain or difficulty breathing.

A heart-smart 30-minute resistance circuit

Practice the exercises below in order, performing eight to 12 repetitions of each exercise. Do the repetitions on each side of your body for the sided exercises unless otherwise noted as alternating or timed exercises. To keep the exercises scalable for different fitness levels, modifications are noted where applicable. You can progress by adding or increasing weight and repetitions.

Complete three rounds of the full circuit, resting as needed, and drinking water between rounds. Each round should take you about eight to 12 minutes.

Walking lunge with rotation

Step forward into a lunge with your fingertips touching the ground on either side of your front foot. Keep your back leg straight or lower your knee to the ground for added stability. Inhale as you reach the hand opposite your front foot toward the sky, rotating open through your chest, shoulder and mid-back. Exhale to bring your hand back down. Step your back foot forward and return to standing. Repeat on the opposite side.

Perform eight to 12 alternating repetitions. The circuit starts with this exercise because it prepares the hips, spine and shoulders for movement while strengthening the lower body and enhancing thoracic rotation or twisting from your mid-back.

Push-up variation

Start in a full plank or modified plank position with your feet hip-distance apart and your hands under your shoulders on the floor or a wall or countertop to modify. Choose the variation that allows you to maintain a strong core and spinal alignment throughout the pushing movement. Inhale as you bend your elbows to lower your body without arching your back and exhale as you push back to starting position. Push-ups develop upper body strength while reinforcing core stability.

Supported single-arm row

Place one hand on the edge of a bench, chair or other sturdy support. Bend your knees and engage your core to keep your back flat. Hold a dumbbell in the opposite hand. Exhale as you pull the weight toward your rib cage. Inhale to slowly lower it.

Rowing exercises build upper body pulling strength and help balance the pushing and reaching demands of everyday life.

Single-leg Romanian deadlift

Stand with your weight shifted over one leg. Holding a dumbbell in the opposite hand of your stabilizing leg, hinge at your hips until your back is parallel with the floor while extending the opposite leg behind you. Exhale and return to standing on both feet.

If balance is challenging, place your other hand on a wall for support. You can also modify by performing these moves without a dumbbell. This movement strengthens glutes and hamstrings while challenging balance and core stability.

Lateral lunge

From standing, step out into a lateral lunge, shifting your hips back and bending your knee to align it above your ankle while keeping the other leg straight. Push back to the starting position.

Modify by shortening the distance you step sideways.

The lateral lunge strengthens the body in the often neglected frontal plane while improving hip mobility and lower body strength.

Offset farmer’s carry

Hold a dumbbell in one hand and walk with tall posture, resisting the urge to lean toward the weight. Walk with even, stable strides for 30 to 60 seconds per side.

This exercise challenges core stability, grip strength and postural control while integrating the entire body.

Dana Santas, CNN