Just 1 year of heavy strength training in early retirement can offer benefits for 4 years, new study reveals

Women are often told that strength training is the way forward to prevent some of the more challenging, long-term symptoms of menopause. It's also a huge mood booster and a great way to stay fit.

As if we needed another reason to start strength training, a new study conducted on those of early retirement age has found that lifting heavy weights consistently for one year can offer up to four years of benefits. 

The study, led by the University of Copenhagen and published in the BMJ Open Sport and Exercise Medicine, reviewed a cohort of almost 500 people from the Live Active Successful Ageing (Lisa) study, a randomised controlled trial, over one year. At the end of the trial, participants had an average age of 71. 61% of the group were women.

Researchers measured participants' leg strength across three different types of exercise - heavy strength training, moderate-intensity training, and a regular active lifestyle - over one year. Those lifting heavy weights worked out three times per week at a private training facility (i.e. a gym), while those in the moderate exercise group worked out once a week at a hospital and the other two at home. 

Following up two and four years later, researchers found that those on the heavy strength training program maintained their leg strength up to four years after the year-long program, while those in the other two groups had lost leg strength. 

Given that all participants were regularly active, recording an average of 10,000 steps on a fitness tracker during the study aside from the strength training, it's fair to say the study isn't representative of the regular population. However, researchers said: "This study provides evidence that resistance training with heavy loads at retirement age can have long-term effects over several years."

What is heavy strength training?

So, what do you need to do to reap these benefits? The group that participated in heavy strength training used exercise machines, including the leg press, chest press, low row, and leg curl machine to achieve the results. Each exercise involved three sets of six to 12 repetitions, between 70% and 80% of the maximum weight they could lift for one repetition - known as the one rep max. 

To replicate these results, you can complete similar exercises at the gym or try strength training for beginners at home. The key isn't so much in the equipment used, it's in the weight. Provided you are lifting a heavy weight - one you can comfortably move for a few repetitions but will struggle to lift towards the end of the set - you can reap the benefits with all types of strength training. 

How you lift the weight is also very important to get the movement right and, importantly, to avoid injury. If you're new to strength training, consult a personal trainer. 

It's easier to lift a heavier weight with a machine at the gym than with dumbbells at home as a machine supports the surrounding muscles, whereas a dumbbell will force you to use them to balance yourself. You also don't have to lift the weight with your arms to move into the starting position on a machine but you would with a dumbbell workout, so you're limited by your grip strength.  

The moderate-intensity group trained completed circuits with bodyweight exercises - including squats, press-ups, seated rows - and resistance bands. 

Is heavy weight training good for you?

Yes, as the study suggests, heavy strength training has some major benefits. Increased leg strength is particularly beneficial in retirement age as it coincides with the postmenopausal period, where conditions such as osteoporosis can develop as lower oestrogen levels caused by menopause trigger a loss of bone and muscle mass without a resistance training intervention. 

We naturally lose muscle mass with age as well, and experts have long said that length strength is also a big predictor of death in older people.

The study also showed that levels of visceral fat - considered the 'most harmful' type as it's stored around the organs in the body - stayed the same in the two active groups but increased in the group that didn't do any additional training. So while there wasn't much evidence to support the idea of strength training for weight loss, another argument was certainly made for the benefits of strength training for weight management. 

This is the latest study to highlight the benefits of strength training for women. Earlier this year, a study led by the University of Limerick and the University Iowa offered even more evidence of the benefits of strength training for reducing anxiety and depression, while other studies have highlighted the benefit of exercising even for just 30 minutes on sleep quality.