Resistance Training Went With Lower Heart Attack Risk in Women

CATEGORY: WOMEN’S HEALTH

Women who regularly did resistance training—muscle-strengthening activity like lifting weights or using resistance bands or machines—had a lower risk of major heart and blood-vessel disease than women who did none, a large U.S. study found. Those doing at least two hours a week had about 20% lower risk of major cardiovascular events overall, and about 44% lower risk of heart attack specifically.¹

117,025 Nurses Followed About 14.5 Years

Researchers followed 117,025 women in the Nurses’ Health Study and Nurses’ Health Study II, two long-running U.S. health studies. The women reported how much resistance training they did, updated every four years, so the researchers could capture long-term habits rather than a single moment. Over an average of about 14.5 years, the team tracked major cardiovascular events—heart attack, stroke, and major heart procedures—recording 5,459 of them, and examined how these related to women’s resistance-training habits.

Combined With Aerobic Activity, About 40% Lower Risk

Compared with women who did no resistance training, those who did at least two hours a week had about 20% lower risk of a major cardiovascular event. The link was strongest for heart attack, at about 44% lower risk. Interestingly, resistance training was not linked to a lower risk of stroke, suggesting the benefit centered on the heart rather than every type of cardiovascular event. The women who combined resistance training with recommended aerobic activity and limited time in front of the television had the lowest risk of all—about 40% lower—more than aerobic activity alone appeared to provide.¹

Active Muscle Helps Manage Blood Sugar and Fats

Building and using muscle does more than shape the body. Active muscle helps the body manage blood sugar and blood fats and supports healthier blood pressure, all of which ease the long-term load on the heart and arteries. Resistance training also tends to preserve muscle as women age, and more muscle is linked to steadier metabolism—the body’s process for turning food into energy—which may be part of why the strongest signal here appeared for heart attack.

Self-Reported Activity in an Observational Study

This was an observational study, so it can reveal an association but cannot prove that resistance training directly prevents heart disease. Activity was self-reported, and women who strength-train may share other heart-healthy habits. Still, because the study followed a very large group of women for well over a decade, it adds notable weight to the idea that muscle-strengthening activity may be part of a heart-healthy pattern for women—alongside, not instead of, aerobic movement.

16 Studies, Benefit Peaked at 30 to 60 Minutes

A pooled analysis of 16 long-term studies linked muscle-strengthening activity to about 17% lower risk of cardiovascular disease, with benefit largest at roughly 30 to 60 minutes a week and no clear added gain above that.² A separate U.S. study of more than 400,000 adults linked strength training to 30% lower risk of dying from heart and blood-vessel disease in women, versus 11% in men.³ The direction holds, though the peak may come sooner.

Key Takeaways

• In this study, women doing at least two hours of resistance training a week had about 20% lower risk of major cardiovascular disease and about 44% lower risk of heart attack.
• The lowest risk appeared in women who combined resistance training with aerobic activity and less sedentary television time—the two forms of exercise seemed to add to each other.
• Resistance training was not linked to lower stroke risk, so the benefit here centered on the heart.

References

1. Zhang T, Zhang Y, Lee DH, et al. Resistance Training, Aerobic Activity, Television Viewing, and Risk of Major Cardiovascular Events in U.S. Women. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2026. doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2026.04.036. link
2. Momma H, Kawakami R, Honda T, et al. Muscle-strengthening activities are associated with lower risk and mortality in major non-communicable diseases: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies. British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2022;56(13):755–763. link.
3. Ji H, Gulati M, Huang TY, et al. Sex differences in association of physical activity with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2024;83(8):783–793. link.