Resistance Training Is Medicine

Resistance training, once considered mainly for athletes, is now recognized as a crucial contributor to health and disease prevention, particularly as sedentary lifestyles and age-related muscle loss (sarcopenia) increase. Regular resistance training can counteract the decline in muscle mass (3–8% per decade after age 30), elevate resting metabolic rate, and reduce fat accumulation. Studies show that 10 weeks of resistance training can increase lean mass (~1.4 kg), boost resting metabolic rate (~7%), and decrease fat mass (~1.8 kg).

Beyond body composition, resistance training offers wide-ranging benefits: it enhances movement control, walking speed, functional independence, cognitive function, and self-esteem, and may alleviate low back pain and discomfort from arthritis or fibromyalgia. It is particularly effective for type 2 diabetes prevention and management by reducing visceral fat, lowering HbA1c, improving glucose transporter density, and increasing insulin sensitivity. Cardiovascular health also improves through reductions in resting blood pressure, LDL cholesterol, and triglycerides, and increases in HDL cholesterol; combined resistance and aerobic exercise can further optimize these outcomes.

Additionally, resistance training supports bone health, with research indicating 1–3% increases in bone mineral density (BMD), potentially helping prevent osteoporosis. Most benefits are sustained only with continued training. Mental health improvements include lowered symptoms of depression, anxiety, and fatigue, and enhanced cognitive ability and self-concept across age groups. Finally, resistance training can reverse some aging-related declines within skeletal muscle at the molecular level, highlighting its unique role as a medicine for physical and mental well-being.