Just a half hour of this activity each week may boost your heart health

Lifting weights for as little as 30 minutes a week can lower your risk of heart disease, the American Heart Association says.

Updating its 2007 guidelines on resistance training, the AHA says in a recently published scientific statement that “accumulating evidence” indicates that the activity is safe and effective at improving heart health among adults with or without cardiovascular disease.

“In 2007, and probably even today, not everyone was aware that resistance training is good for heart health,” said Abbi Lane, senior author of the statement and an assistant professor at the University of Michigan School of Kinesiology. “The abundance of research suggests that resistance training is at least as safe as aerobic exercise, such as walking and biking.”

She added that resistance training is linked to about 15% lower risk of early death and 17% lower risk of heart disease compared with adults who don’t engage in resistance training.

The guidelines state that two days a week of resistance training can provide maximum benefits. The AHA notes that fewer than a third of U.S. adults meet this recommendation.

“You should perform one to three sets of eight to 10 different exercises that include all your muscle groups,” Lane said. “Most people should perform eight to 12 repetitions of each exercise.”

The updated guidelines are published online in the journal Circulation.