Keeping Current

The real reason why

Forget vanity and the competitive ego and peer pressure and the challenge and the masochistic thrill of it all, the real reason why you are into lifting is for the cardiovascular protection it gives you. Isn't it? If not, perhaps you will be persuaded by a Harvard study of almost 45,000 men-those lifting for 30 minutes or more a week had a 23 percent lower risk of heart disease than those who didn't.

As quoted in Men's Health, the lead author of the study noted the connection between a healthy heart and a mighty lift: weight training increases muscle mass and resting metabolic rate and also leads to better glucose control and decreased insulin resistance-and that all adds up to decreased heart disease risk. And if you are already into high-intensity work, you knew all this already, because the study also found that increasing the intensity of the workout reduced heart disease risk factors even more.

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