Does lifting weights shorten lifespan?

The Kevin Bass Show

Does lifting weights shorten lifespan?

October 17, 2022

Does lifting weights automatically make someone healthier?

Not so fast.

One recent study showed that current and former power athletes (wrestlers, judo players, and powerlifters) have higher rates of metabolic dysfunction than non-athletes, despite a lower body fat percentage and, for active athletes, a smaller waist circumference (PMID 30148100). See figure in post.

Being big and strong does not automatically make someone healthy. In fact, the opposite might be true.

With our culture’s current obsession with muscularity, isn’t it important to know that muscularity might come at the price of health?

Enter studies of the mortality rates of former athletes. Consistently and internationally, they show that endurance athletes have a marked longevity advantage, mixed athletes have a slightly lower longevity advantage, and power athletes have a much lower advantage, even in some cases dying slightly earlier than the general population (PMIDs 33368029, 23241272, 26301178, 28149523).

One study published last year, meta-analyzing studies of more than 165,000 athletes showed that power athletes do not live any longer than the average person in the population. In contrast, former endurance athletes enjoyed a full 35% reduction in risk of death at all ages (PMID 33368029).

A new paper even showed that longevity benefits were maximized at 1-2 hours of weight training per week, after which they declined precipitously and even increased above the average population at 3-4 hours per week. That’s right. The average gym bro lifting 3-4 hours per week had a higher risk of death at all ages than the potato chip bro playing Xbox. This was despite lower metabolic and diabetes risk, probably due to increased amounts of muscle mass (PMID 35228201).

It’s true that weight training helps to stave off sarcopenia, an important cause of declining quality of life among the elderly. But the benefits of higher muscle mass can be gained without needing to become a bodybuilder. In fact, it might be more healthy to hit the treadmill more and the weights less.

Learn more at THE KEVIN BASS SHOW.

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