Pumping iron reduces cardiac and cancer risk

It's not enough to simply maintain your cardiovascular fitness if you want to reduce your risk of heart disease. You need to maintain your muscular strength as well, according to a study to be published on 12 July in The British Medical Journal. According to Jonatan Ruiz and colleagues, the role of muscular strength in improving general daily living and in reducing chronic disease is increasingly being recognised. In this study, researchers set out to look at the association between muscular strength and all cause mortality, cardiovascular disease and cancer in men.

They studied nearly 9 000 men aged between 20 and 88 and followed them up for nearly 19 years. They found that men who were fit, were even less likely to suffer from cardiovascular disease and cancer if they also maintained muscular strength.

The suggestion is that it is not simply maintaining cardiovascular fitness that helps to prevent disease as you age, but that maintaining muscular strength is at least as important.