Doctors have settled a decades-long argument about the best workout for your heart, and the answer is not one or the other.
Quick Take
- Research shows lifting weights and cardio protect the heart in different, complementary ways.
- The American Heart Association now says resistance training is safe and effective for heart health, alongside aerobic exercise.
- Studies show weight training alone can cut heart disease risk even without cardio.
- Experts recommend about two strength sessions plus regular aerobic activity each week.
Decades Of Research Point To One Clear Answer
For years, cardio got all the credit for heart health. Doctors pushed running, biking, and swimming as the gold standard. Strength training sat on the sidelines, seen as something for building muscle, not saving lives. That view has changed. The American Heart Association issued a scientific statement calling for resistance training to be done alongside aerobic exercise, not instead of it, to protect the heart and prevent disease.
A 2023 update from the same organization went further. It said growing evidence shows resistance training is a safe, effective way to improve heart health in adults, whether or not they already have cardiovascular disease. That is a big shift from the old thinking that only counted laps and miles as heart-healthy effort.
Why Lifting Weights Does Something Running Can’t
Cardio and strength training do not just duplicate each other’s benefits. They work through separate paths in the body. Aerobic exercise trains the heart and lungs to move oxygen more efficiently. Resistance training builds muscle and triggers changes at the cellular level, including mitochondrial growth, that support long-term metabolic health. Both matter, and neither replaces the other.
A study out of Harvard found that combining aerobic exercise with strength-based moves worked just as well as an all-cardio routine for lowering cardiovascular risk. After one year, both the aerobic-only group and the combination group saw real improvements, while the strength-only group did not match those gains alone. That is a strong argument for pairing the two rather than picking a side.
The Surprising Power Of Lifting Alone
Here is where the research gets interesting. One large study found that people doing resistance exercise saw their risk of total cardiovascular events drop by roughly 40 to 70 percent, independent of whether they did any aerobic exercise at all. Even less than an hour of weekly weight training showed a protective effect. That does not mean skip the cardio. It means strength training carries its own weight, literally and medically.
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A separate study on women found that those who did two or more hours of strength training per week had a 20 percent lower risk of a major cardiac event compared to those who did not lift at all. Federal researchers funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute also found that combining strength training with cardio improved cardiovascular risk profiles in adults with overweight or obesity, alongside cardio-only routines.
How Much Exercise You Actually Need Each Week
So what does a heart-smart week look like in practice? Guidance built from the research suggests aiming for two strength sessions weekly, adding up to at least 60 minutes total. Some analyses on combined training found benefits building up to roughly 2.5 to 4 hours per week between cardio and strength work, with more not always translating to more benefit. The goal is consistency, not exhaustion.
The takeaway for anyone over 40 juggling a busy schedule is simple. You do not need to choose between the treadmill and the dumbbells. Skipping one for the other leaves real protection on the table. A body that walks, jogs, or bikes regularly and also lifts something heavy twice a week is doing exactly what the science says works best for a long, strong heartbeat.
Sources:
mindbodygreen.com, health.harvard.edu, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, nhlbi.nih.gov, crtonline.org
