90–120 Minutes of Strength Training per Week: The 'Golden Zone' That Lowers Death Risk by 13%

Walking diligently every day may not be enough to maintain health. According to a study conducted by a research team at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, which tracked approximately 147,000 people for up to 30 years, long-lived individuals shared a common characteristic beyond walking: 'strength training.'

According to the Gyoyukhaneun Uisa! Lee Dong-hwan TV video, this study is based on a paper published in the 'British Journal of Sports Medicine' in 2026. The research team statistically excluded the effects of aerobic exercise and analyzed purely the impact of strength training alone on the risk of death.

The Effects of 90–120 Minutes of Weekly Strength Training and the 'Golden Zone'

The research results showed that the health benefits were most pronounced when strength training was performed between 90 and 120 minutes per week. People in this interval who performed strength training had an all-cause mortality risk approximately 13% lower than those who did no exercise at all. In particular, there was an association with a reduction in mortality due to cardiovascular disease by about 19% and mortality due to neurological diseases by about 27%. However, this does not mean it prevents the onset of the diseases themselves, but rather that the risk of death from those diseases was lowered.

What is noteworthy is the fact that more exercise is not unconditionally better. According to the study, if the weekly duration exceeds 120 minutes, no additional reduction in mortality risk was observed. Therefore, rather than investing excessive time, it is more efficient to stick to the 'golden zone' of 90–120 minutes per week. To practice this, one could perform 45 minutes at a time twice a week, or 30 minutes at a time three times a week.

Combining Aerobic and Strength Training Reduces Death Risk by 45%

Muscle is the largest metabolic organ in our body. When blood sugar rises after a meal, muscles act as a 'blood sugar storage warehouse' by absorbing and storing glucose. The stronger the muscles, the more stable the blood sugar levels and the lower the risk of diabetes. Additionally, sarcopenia, which appears from the age of 40, lowers the basal metabolic rate and increases the risk of falls, making muscle maintenance through strength training essential.

The most striking result in the study was when aerobic exercise and strength training were combined. The group that performed sufficient aerobic exercise along with strength training showed a mortality risk that was approximately 45% lower. This shows that the two types of exercise are not in a competitive relationship but rather a complementary one. However, in the case of cancer mortality, there was a tendency to decrease by about 10% only in the light strength training interval of about 30 minutes to 1 hour per week, and increasing the exercise time further did not lead to an additional reduction in cancer mortality.

Practical Exercises Focusing on the Lower Body and Back

For effective strength training, it is advantageous to use the large muscles of our body. Exercises that stimulate the lower body and back muscles, where the largest muscles of our body are concentrated, are recommended. Representative exercises include squats and sitting up from a chair, and push-ups, which use the back, chest, and shoulders simultaneously. If push-ups are difficult, it is good to start by leaning against a wall or a desk.

The video additionally recommended two exercises that can be easily done at home. The first is the 'calf raise exercise,' performed while engaging the core and glute muscles, and the second is the 'leg spreading exercise,' where one sits in a chair, wraps a resistance band around the legs, and spreads the legs. This is a method that stimulates the glute muscles while being manageable even for people with back pain.

However, if you have heart disease, uncontrolled hypertension, joint diseases (knee, waist), or kidney disease, you must consult your primary physician before starting exercise to determine the intensity and type that suits your physical condition. Rather than trying to fill 90 minutes a week from the start, it is important to start with 10–20 minutes a week and increase it gradually.