This Habit May Be Linked To A 44% Lower Heart Attack Risk In Women
When it comes to protecting your heart, the advice has always been to incorporate more cardiovascular activity (like walking, running, or cycling). And while aerobic exercise absolutely matters, a large new study on cardiovascular risk in women1 suggests that strength training also plays a vital role.
Researchers followed more than 117,000 women over nearly 15 years and found that those who lifted weights regularly had a meaningfully lower risk of heart disease. The link was especially strong for heart attack. And when women combined strength training with cardio and kept their sitting time low, the protective effect was even greater. Here's what you need to know.
About the study
The research drew on data from the Nurses' Health Study and the Nurses' Health Study II, following 117,025 women for an average of 14.5 years. Participants reported their resistance training habits every four years, giving researchers a picture of long-term behavior rather than a snapshot.
A lot of heart health research has focused on aerobic exercise, with less attention paid to understanding the effects of strength training in women. This study set out to examine whether resistance training had an independent association with cardiovascular risk, and how it interacted with aerobic activity and sedentary behavior.
Resistance training cut heart attack risk by nearly half
Compared to women who did no resistance training, those who did at least two hours per week had a 20% lower risk of major heart disease. Each additional hour per week was linked to a further 5% reduction.
The association was considerably stronger for heart attack specifically. Women doing two or more hours of resistance training per week had a 44% lower risk of heart attack compared to those who did none. No significant link was found for stroke.
Sedentary behavior also played a role. The researchers used TV viewing time as a stand-in for how much time women spent sitting, and those who kept it under two hours a day fared better overall.
The most notable result came from a combined analysis. Women who hit all three targets (enough aerobic activity, at least one hour of resistance training per week, and less than two hours of TV per day) had a 40% lower risk of major heart disease compared to women who met none of those targets. Women who checked the aerobic and low-sitting boxes but skipped strength training had a higher risk than those who did all three, suggesting that cardio and strength training work together in ways that neither does alone.
Why the heart attack finding stands out
A 44% lower risk of heart attack is a substantial association, and it was considerably stronger than the overall heart disease finding. This points to resistance training having a particular protective effect on the heart's arteries and coronary health, though this was an observational study, meaning it shows a link, not a direct cause-and-effect relationship.
Two additional patterns strengthened the association.
- Women who kept up their resistance training consistently (for at least 75% of the follow-up period) showed greater benefit than those who trained on and off.
- And women who worked both their upper and lower body saw more protection than those who focused on just one area. Consistency and variety both seem to matter.
Prior research has also linked push-up capacity to cardiovascular disease risk, another signal that muscular fitness may say a lot about heart health, not just physical performance.
What this means for your strength training routine
The study's results translate into a fairly clear set of practical targets:
- Aim for 1–2 hours of resistance training per week: Even one hour per week was linked to meaningful heart disease risk reduction, and the benefit continued to grow up to two or more hours.
- Combine strength and cardio: The lowest risk in the study was seen in women who did both; they work together, not against each other.
- Limit sitting time: Keeping TV viewing under two hours a day was one of the three habits linked to the greatest risk reduction; extended sitting appears to be its own risk factor, separate from how much you exercise.
- Train both upper and lower body: Women who included both saw stronger associations than those who focused on just one area.
- Stay consistent over time: The benefit was strongest in women who kept up their resistance training habit across most of the follow-up period; this is a long-term investment, not a quick fix.
For women also thinking about cardio benchmarks, tracking your VO2 max is a useful companion goal alongside strength training.
The takeaway
This study adds to a growing body of evidence that strength training may also be one of the most underrated tools in women's heart health. As the research on muscle and longevity continues to build, the case for picking up weights, consistently, across the whole body, and alongside cardio, has never been stronger.