Strength training protects you as you age

Muscle strength peaks in your 30s and falls from midlife on. In data from almost 50,000 British people, median grip strength peaked at 51 kg for men and 31 kg for women, then declined. By 80, about 1 in 4 people had weak grip.

Strength training slows that decline, and often reverses it. A Cochrane review of 121 trials in older adults found that training two or three times a week gave a large gain in strength and made it easier to get up from a chair. Serious injuries from the training were rare.

It's also linked to a longer life. A 2022 meta-analysis of 16 cohort studies found that people who did muscle-strengthening activity had a 10 to 17% lower risk of death, heart disease, cancer and diabetes. The lowest risk came at 30 to 60 minutes a week. Above an hour, the benefit for mortality stopped growing, and there's too little data at high volumes to say why. These cohort studies show a link, not proof, but the trials above show the strength gains are real.

The WHO recommends strength work on at least two days a week. You don't need a gym. Push-ups, squats, lunges and rows with a loaded backpack all count.

Ageon gives you strength points for strength workouts in Apple Health, or when you tap the habit yourself.