AHA Scientific Statement Addresses the CV Benefits of Resistance Training – Renal and Urology News

The American Heart Association (AHA) has issued a scientific statement summarizing the cardiovascular-related benefits of resistance training, as published in Circulation.

The statement is an update to AHA’s 2007 statement on resistance training and cardiovascular disease (CVD) and incorporates more recent evidence of the effect of resistance training on traditional and nontraditional CVD risk factors.

The statement addresses the effects of resistance training in adults with and without CVD and the benefits associated with combination training (aerobic + resistance), as well as the promotion, prescription, and safety considerations for resistance training.

Resistance training can improve traditional CVD risk factors, including blood pressure (BP), glycemia, lipids, and body composition. Resistance training may reduce resting BP in healthy adults and in those with prehypertension, hypertension, and higher cardiometabolic risk. A modest but favorable effect of resistance training has been found for total cholesterol, triglycerides, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and resistance training may be beneficial for lean body mass and fat mass.

Among nontraditional risk factors, resistance training may provide small to moderate beneficial increases in cardiorespiratory fitness. It also may favorably affect endothelial function, although its effects on arterial stiffness and inflammatory markers are less consistent. Recent evidence has suggested that resistance training may be associated with improved sleep quality, decreased symptoms of depression and anxiety, and improved quality of life.

Combination training may have a stronger association with decreased all-cause and CVD mortality vs aerobic training or resistance training alone. Combination training may be more effective for body composition and glycemic control, particularly in patients with type 2 diabetes. Resistance training programs in populations with low levels of aerobic activity may improve cardiorespiratory fitness, physical function, and cardiovascular health, noted the AHA writing group.

Resistance training combined with other weight-bearing, high-impact, aerobic activities are beneficial for bone health in women. Resistance training is generally safe during pregnancy and the postpartum period, and maternal benefits are most favorable for combination training versus resistance training or aerobic training alone. “Before recommending a RT [resistance training] routine, health care professionals should conduct an evaluation to rule out contraindications (eg, preterm labor, preeclampsia, severe anemia),” advised the authors.

Among healthy older adults, resistance training improves muscle strength and increases mobility, physical function, and cardiorespiratory fitness. In older adults with known or suspected CVD, resistance training interventions can improve glucose tolerance, lipids and lipoproteins, insulin resistance, and resting BP. In apparently healthy adults, resistance training can include free weights (dumbbells), body weight (push-ups, squats), machine weights, and resistance bands.

Signs or symptoms of myocardial ischemia, ventricular arrhythmias, and abnormal hemodynamic responses are less common during submaximal and maximal resistance vs aerobic exercise, the authors noted. Clinicians can initially assess the safety of resistance training with use of the same contraindications as the endurance component of adult fitness or exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation programs.

“RT [resistance training] programs need not be time-consuming to be efficacious, requiring only 30 to 60 minutes per week,” wrote the AHA authors. “In general, a single set of 8 to 12 repetitions to volitional fatigue, using moderate weight loads of 40% to 60% of 1 repetition maximum, for 8 to 10 different exercises involving major muscle groups, performed twice per week are highly effective… Recent evidence clearly demonstrates that RT is a safe, effective, and essential component of the overall physical activity regimen for CVD risk reduction.”

Disclosure: Some of the writing group members and reviewers declared affiliations with biotech, pharmaceutical, and/or device companies. Please see the original reference for a full list of authors’ disclosures.

This article originally appeared on The Cardiology Advisor