Strength training may lower risk of metabolic syndrome

Jul 10, 2017 06:00 am

Middle-aged adults who do even a small amount of regular strength training exercise may be lowering their risk of metabolic syndrome - itself a risk factor for both heart disease and diabetes, a recent study suggests.

People with metabolic syndrome have at least three of the following unfavourable health stats: Increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist, and abnormal cholesterol or triglyceride levels.

They are also more likely to develop diabetes, heart disease or both.

But researchers found that when generally healthy people did strength-building exercise for less than an hour a week, they had 29 per cent lower odds of developing metabolic syndrome than their peers who did no resistance exercise. - REUTERS