科学家发现力量训练的“最佳平衡点”有助于延长寿命

Just one to two hours of strength training a week may help you live longer, especially when combined with regular aerobic exercise.

每周只需进行一到两小时的力量训练，尤其是在结合规律的有氧运动时，就能帮助你延长寿命。

Strength training has long been seen as something you mainly do to build muscle or look good. But a new study adds to a growing body of evidence that shows lifting weights does far more than change how we look. It may help us live longer – even if you don’t spend hours each day in the gym.

长期以来，人们一直认为力量训练的主要目的是增肌或塑造体型。但一项新的研究进一步证实了越来越多的证据 ，表明举重带来的益处远不止于此。它甚至可能有助于延长寿命——即使你并非每天都在健身房花费数小时。

The study drew on three long-running US studies that followed nearly 150,000 nurses and other health professionals for up to 30 years. Every couple of years, participants reported how much time they spent on strength training and aerobic exercise such as walking, cycling and swimming. Over the three decades almost 36,000 of them died, which let the researchers track how muscle-strengthening activity related to the risk of dying early.

这项研究借鉴了三项历时长达 30 年的美国研究， 这些研究追踪了近 15 万名护士和其他医护人员。每隔几年，参与者都会报告他们进行力量训练和有氧运动（例如步行、骑自行车和游泳）的时间。在长达 30 年的时间里，近 3.6 万人去世，这使得研究人员能够追踪肌肉强化活动与过早死亡风险之间的关系。

They found a clear sweet spot. People who did around 90 to 120 minutes of strength training a week – or roughly an hour and a half to two hours – had about a 13% lower risk of dying from any cause than those who did none.

他们找到了一个明显的最佳平衡点。每周进行大约 90 到 120 分钟力量训练（约一个半小时到两个小时）的人，因任何原因死亡的风险比不进行力量训练的人低约 13%。

The benefit of strength was strongest for two of our biggest killers: a 19% lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease (which includes heart disease and stroke) and a 27% lower risk of dying from neurological conditions, mainly dementia.

增强体质对两大杀手的益处最为显著：死于心血管疾病（包括心脏病和中风）的风险降低了 19%，死于神经系统疾病（主要是痴呆症）的风险降低了 27%。

Interestingly, more wasn’t necessarily better. Beyond about two hours of weightlifting a week, risk didn’t fall any further.

有趣的是，并非越多越好。每周举重训练超过两小时后，风险并没有进一步降低。

The lowest risk of all was seen in people who paired strength training with regular aerobic exercise – measured across everyday activities such as walking, jogging, cycling and swimming. Doing at least the recommended amount of moderate aerobic activity (around 150 minutes a week) was on its own linked to between a 26% and 43% lower risk of death.

风险最低的是那些将力量训练与规律的有氧运动相结合的人群——有氧运动涵盖日常活动，例如步行、慢跑、骑自行车和游泳。即使每周只进行至少推荐量的中等强度有氧运动（约150分钟），也能使死亡风险降低26%至43%。

But combining plenty of aerobic activity with one to two hours of strength training brought the risk down furthest of all – by around 45%. Aerobic exercise still did most of the heavy lifting, but the two clearly work best together, not as rivals.

但将大量的有氧运动与一到两个小时的力量训练相结合，能最大程度地降低风险——降低约45%。有氧运动仍然发挥着主要作用，但两者显然是相辅相成，而不是相互竞争。

There was one exception to the pattern: for cancer deaths, only smaller amounts of strength training (under an hour a week) were linked to lower risk.

但有一个例外：对于癌症死亡，只有少量的力量训练（每周不到一小时）与较低的风险相关。

Muscle and mortality 肌肉与死亡率

So why would weightlifting help us live longer? The answer lies in muscle – and what muscle actually does, beyond simply helping us move around.

那么，为什么举重能帮助我们延年益寿呢？答案就在于肌肉——以及肌肉除了帮助我们活动之外的实际作用。

Muscle, specifically the skeletal muscle we build through resistance training, is one of the body’s most metabolically active tissues. After a meal, it’s where most of the sugar, or glucose, in our blood is sent. Insulin, the hormone released when we eat, signals muscle to absorb glucose from the bloodstream, and it mops up around 80% of it – either burning it for energy or storing it as glycogen, a ready fuel reserve, rather than letting it circulate or be stored as fat.

肌肉，特别是我们通过阻力训练锻炼出的骨骼肌，是人体代谢最活跃的组织之一。餐后，血液中大部分的糖分（葡萄糖）都会被输送到肌肉。胰岛素是一种在我们进食时释放的激素，它会发出信号，促使肌肉从血液中吸收葡萄糖。肌肉会吸收其中约 80%的葡萄糖——要么将其燃烧供能，要么将其储存为糖原（一种随时可用的能量储备），而不是让其在血液中循环或转化为脂肪储存起来。

Keeping muscle strong and plentiful therefore helps the body manage blood sugar and protects against type 2 diabetes, itself a major driver of heart disease and early death.
因此，保持肌肉强壮充足有助于身体控制血糖 ，并预防 2 型糖尿病 ，而 2 型糖尿病本身是心脏病和过早死亡的主要诱因 。

Muscle is also an organ in its own right. When muscles contract, they release hormone-like messengers called myokines into the bloodstream. These help to dampen the chronic, low-grade inflammation that quietly underlies heart disease, diabetes and many cancers.

肌肉本身也是一个独立的器官。当肌肉收缩时，会释放一种叫做肌细胞因子的激素样信使进入血液。这些肌细胞因子有助于抑制慢性、 低度炎症 ，而这种炎症正是心脏病、糖尿病和许多癌症的潜在病因。

Myokines also allow muscle to communicate with the liver, fat tissue, blood vessels, bone and even the brain. They send out signals that influence how those organs burn fuel, control blood flow and stay healthy. In effect, every time we use our muscles, they release a burst of chemical signals that benefit the rest of the body.

肌细胞因子还能使肌肉与肝脏、脂肪组织、血管、骨骼甚至大脑进行沟通 。它们发出信号，影响这些器官燃烧能量、控制血液流动和维持健康的方式。实际上，每次我们使用肌肉时，肌肉都会释放出一系列化学信号，使身体其他部位受益。

The heart and circulatory system benefit too. Over time, regular resistance training can help lower blood pressure and keep arteries flexible rather than stiff, which protects against cardiovascular disease.
心脏和循环系统也能从中受益。长期坚持规律的阻力训练有助于降低血压， 保持动脉柔韧性而非僵硬 ，从而预防心血管疾病。

Strength itself is also a remarkably good barometer of health. Grip strength – how hard you can squeeze with your hand – is widely used as an indicator of whole-body strength. In one large international study, grip strength predicted the risk of dying early even more accurately than blood pressure. Stronger muscles also mean fewer falls and fractures, more independence in later life and less frailty as we age – all of which shape how long, and how well, we live.

力量本身也是衡量健康状况的绝佳指标。握力——即你用手能握多紧——被广泛用作全身力量的指标。在一项大型国际研究中，握力预测早逝风险的准确性甚至超过了血压 。更强壮的肌肉也意味着更少的跌倒和骨折 ，晚年更高的独立性，以及随着年龄增长更少的虚弱——所有这些都影响着我们的寿命和生活质量。

The link between strength training and brain health is newer and less certain, but plausible. Resistance training appears to drive beneficial changes in the brain. The same improvements in blood sugar and blood vessels that protect the heart are also tied to a lower risk of dementia. That may help explain the 27% drop in deaths from neurological disease the study found.

力量训练与大脑健康之间的联系是较新的研究成果，目前尚无定论，但并非毫无根据。阻力训练似乎能促进大脑的积极变化 。这种对血糖和血管（保护心脏）的改善也与降低痴呆风险相关。这或许可以解释该研究发现的神经系统疾病死亡率下降 27%的原因。

It’s worth being clear about what this study can and can’t tell us. It was observational, so although it can show a strong link between strength training and a longer life, it can’t prove that one directly causes the other.

有必要明确这项研究能告诉我们什么，不能告诉我们什么。这是一项观察性研究，因此，尽管它能显示力量训练与寿命延长之间存在密切联系，但它无法证明两者之间存在直接因果关系。

People who lift weights may be healthier in other ways, though the researchers adjusted for many such factors, including diet, smoking and aerobic activity. Strength training was also self-reported, and the study couldn’t capture how hard people trained.

举重者在其他方面可能更健康，尽管研究人员已对包括饮食、吸烟和有氧运动在内的许多因素进行了调整。此外，力量训练情况为自我报告，因此该研究无法了解人们的训练强度。

The encouraging message is that the amount linked to a longer life is genuinely achievable. You don’t need a gym membership or a heavy barbell, either. Two short sessions a week where you work all the major muscle groups, alongside some aerobic exercise each day, appears to be plenty when it comes to improving your overall health and longevity.

令人鼓舞的是，与延长寿命相关的运动量是完全可以实现的。你也不需要健身房会员卡或沉重的杠铃。每周两次短时间的锻炼，每次锻炼到所有主要肌肉群 ，再加上每天进行一些有氧运动，似乎就足以改善你的整体健康状况并延长寿命。