THURSDAY, June 18, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Aerobic exercise comes immediately to mind when one thinks of ways to reduce heart disease risk through physical activity.

But women might be able to lower their risk of heart disease through consistent strength training as well, a new study says.

Women who lift weights appear to have a reduced risk of heart problems, especially if they’re also doing aerobics, researchers reported June 17 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Women had a 44% lower risk of heart attack and 20% lower risk of heart disease if they did two or more hours of weight training a week, researchers found.

And the more often they lifted, the more their heart risk declined, results showed.

“Despite its established health benefits, resistance training is often overlooked as a prevention strategy for cardiovascular disease, and its impact on cardiovascular disease risk — especially in middle-aged and older women — remains understudied,” lead researcher Dr. Tianyue Zhang, a visiting scientist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Department of Nutrition in Boston, said in a news release.

Current U.S. guidelines recommend at least two days of resistance training each week, alongside 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous aerobic exercise, researchers said in background notes.

For the study, researchers analyzed data from more than 117,000 women participating in a long-term health study. As part of the study, the women’s physical activity, resistance training and sedentary behavior were tracked for an average of nearly 15 years.

Each additional hour of resistance training per week was linked to a 14% lower risk of heart attack and 5% lower risk of heart disease.

If a woman got the recommended levels of both strength training and aerobic exercise, her risk of heart attack was about 45% lower than those with no physical activity.

“These findings suggest that, within an already active population, resistance training is associated with additional reductions in cardiovascular disease risk above and beyond overall aerobic activity,” Zhang said. “Alongside aerobic activity and reductions in sedentary behavior, resistance training may be an important component of public health strategies for cardiovascular prevention in women.”

Dr. Harlan Krumholz, editor-in-chief of JACC, said resistance training has been encouraged for a long time, and this study provides "strong evidence" to reinforce that.

“It should be included in a well-rounded health routine to support function and longevity,” Krumholz, who was not involved in the study, added in a news release.

More information

The University of Colorado has more on resistance training for women.

SOURCES: American College of Cardiology, news release, June 17, 2026; Journal of the American College of Cardiology, June 17, 2026

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