Bodybuilding and life expectancy

A 15-year study 1 looked at the life expectancy of both practicing and non-practicing seniors in bodybuilding. Recently published in the American newspaper Preventive Medicine, this study demonstrates the benefits of bodybuilding to live longer.

Many studies have already highlighted the benefits of sports training for seniors. But there was no specific information on bodybuilding. Bodybuilding was known to be effective in preventing osteoporosis, and is beneficial for people with diabetes and / or obesity, but this recent study is the first to demonstrate a link between greater muscle mass / strength and mortality. less important.

Bodybuilding increases life expectancy
Led by researchers from several departments of Penn State University College of Medicine and Columbia University, the study's goal was to analyze data collected between the years 1997 and 2001 by the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS ). It took into account data from 30,000 people over the age of 65 living in the United States.

During the survey period, just over 9% of older people indicated that they did bodybuilding at least twice a week. "It's a small fraction of the population, but it's actually higher than we expected," says Professor L. Kraschnewski of the Penn State College of Medicine.

The researchers then followed these people for 15 years through death certificate data from the National Center for Health Statistics National Death Index. About a third of people died in 2011.

After analyzing the death certificates, the scientists realized that older people who practiced bodybuilding twice a week were less likely to die from cardiac arrest (-41%) or cancers (-19%) and other fatal diseases (-46%) compared to sedentary people.

Notably, people who practice bodybuilding have a longer life expectancy compared to those who exercise differently.

These results highlight that the benefits of bodybuilding go well beyond the simple increase in muscle mass. Professor L. Kraschnewski of the Penn State College of Medicine says, "There is a need to find ways to get people to get muscle."

Références ↑ Is strength training associated with mortality benefits? A 15 year cohort study of US older adults