According to a large muscle study published in The Washington Post, lifting weights once a week for 15 minutes using six core moves may be all most of us need to build muscle and maintain total body strength. The study followed nearly 15,000 men and women between the ages of 18 to 80 for about seven years and found that performing a weight-training routine once a week increased lower-body strength by up to 60%, regardless of age or gender.
The study suggests that a small, consistent amount of weight training can produce significant gains in strength for most of us. The six exercises that experts recommend for building strength include the chest press exercise, pulldown exercise, leg press exercise, abdominal flexion exercise, back extension exercise, and hip adduction exercise. The experts recommend performing each exercise slowly and smoothly, raising the weight for 10 seconds and lowering it for another 10 seconds, and repeating until you cannot lift again.
Studies have shown that resistance exercise can also reduce anxiety, help control weight, maintain muscle mass and build, improve thinking, control blood sugar, and help prevent falls. These effects are often equal to, or even greater than, the effects of endurance activities, such as walking or cycling, in some respects, especially regarding muscle and metabolic health. Committing to shorter workouts leads to significant gains in strength, especially in the beginning. During the first year of lifting, most people’s strength increased by about 30% to 50%, based on the weights they could handle during each exercise.
“Being strong is hugely important for long-term health,” says James Steele, an exercise scientist at Solent University in Southampton, England, who led the new study. A 2022 review of studies on resistance training found that men and women who did strength training, no matter how infrequent, were 15% less likely to die prematurely than those who didn’t train their muscles. Therefore, lifting weights once a week for 15 minutes is very beneficial for the body, and people who do weight training live longer and are less likely to die prematurely.
If you are not familiar with sports machines, it is best to consult a private trainer in the gym. The study’s findings emphasize the importance of incorporating weight training into your exercise routine, even if it is only once a week.
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