The route to longer life? 30 minutes a week of muscle-strengthening exercises, new study says

Digging your garden and carrying heavy shopping bags can reduce your risk of dying from causes including heart disease, cancer and diabetes, according to a new study.

That’s because they are muscle-strengthening exercises, and researchers in Japan have found that doing just 30 to 60 minutes a week of such activities is linked to a 10-20% fall in our mortality risk.

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Lifting weights, working with resistance bands, push-ups, heavy gardening and some forms of yoga are among the muscle-strengthening activities recommended by the United States Department of Health.

In the United Kingdom, the National Health Service lists carrying heavy shopping bags, wheeling a wheelchair, tai chi and lifting and carrying children as muscle-strengthening activities.

It was already known that muscle-strengthening activity is good for musculoskeletal health. However, this new study shows what amount of exercise gives the most benefit, with 30-60 minutes a week linked to the biggest fall in the risk of death.

The research is published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine and analyzes data over more than 25 years from adults in the US, England, Scotland, Australia and Japan. It shows that for those with diabetes, up to an hour a week of muscle-strengthening activity is linked to an L-shaped “large risk reduction”.

Doing aerobic exercise as well as muscle-strengthening activity is associated with a much bigger fall in mortality risk of 40%, says the research team, which was led by the Tohoku University School of Medicine in Sendai, northeast Japan. Examples of aerobic activity include brisk walking, swimming and running.

Japan is known for its people living long lives. One in every 1,450 people in Japan is now 100 years old or more. Last year alone, more than 6,000 people reached 100, taking Japan’s centenarian total to 86,510. Keeping on the move throughout the day with activities like gardening and walking is part of the lifestyle in the country’s longevity hotspots.

Diet is also key to living longer. People in Spain and Italy have a longer life expectancy than those in all other EU member states, and this is associated with their Mediterranean diet. Typically this is high in fruit and vegetables, olive oil, nuts and fish, and low in meat and dairy.