[The irony  ] She nearly had a heart attack when I told her …“Strength training may be better for your cardiovascular health than cardio.” Better?! What?! I know, I know. You were taught the opposite. But here’s the backstory on how exercise research works … First, exercise physiologists – biased, as we all are – make a seemingly logical hypothesis and test it. In my experience, there are two types of exercise physiologists – those who run, and those who don’t “have time” to exercise. Those who run tend to test the effects of running – and only running – on health. So of course they found that running promoted cardiovascular health. Duh. However, they never felt the need to test strength training. Until recently. Here’s what Medical News Weekly said: |
Strength training tied to better heart health than aerobic [training]:
Exercises that build strength can benefit the heart more than aerobic activities, such as walking and cycling, according to recent research.
| Yep. “Better.” Studies looking at over 35,000 subjects showed women who performed “any amount” of resistance training had decreased cardiovascular disease and increased longevity. One study showed 40 to 70 percent decreased risk of cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality — “independent of any aerobic exercise.” Bottom Line If you like cardio, great. But don’t do it because you’ve been convinced it’s the only way to optimize your cardiovascular health. |
