11 Benefits of Strength Training That Have Nothing to Do With Muscle Size

Even if you’re not building muscle, you can improve your heart health and lower your blood sugar levels.

By K. Aleisha Fetters, MS, CSCS

Reviewed by Cedric X. Bryant, PhD, FACSM

June 18, 2021, at 10:05 a.m.

If you want to build bigger biceps or get an elusive six-pack, strength training is an essential component for making it happen. But even if maxing out your muscle size isn’t your objective, strength training might still be the best way to hit your health goals.

“A lot of people believe that if they don’t want to look like a bodybuilder, they shouldn’t perform resistance training,” says Michael Rebold, director of integrative exercise sciences at Hiram College in Ohio. “So the only form of exercise they do is aerobic – and then they wonder why they’re having trouble making significant improvements in their (overall) health,” he explains.

Plus, building muscle bulk requires specialized and intense training and nutrition, and it doesn’t happen by accident, Rebold adds.

Proven Benefits of Strength Training

Before your next workout, consider these 11 science-backed benefits of strength training:

Lower Abdominal Fat
In a 2014 study published in the research journal Obesity, Harvard researchers followed 10,500 men over the course of 12 years and found that strength training is more effective at preventing increases in abdominal fat than cardiovascular exercise.

“When people incorporate strength training into their exercise routine, they not only burn calories, but increase lean muscle mass, which stimulates the metabolism,” Rebold says. Muscle mass is a major factor in determining basal metabolic rate, or the number of calories the body burns per day to sustain physiologic functions.

Better Cardiovascular Health
Abdominal fat(also known as visceral fat) is located in and around the vital organs and is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Visceral fat is linked to CVD because it’s associated with the release of certain proteins and hormones that cause inflammation. This inflammation has been shown to damage blood vessels, increase blood pressure and lead to other cardiac problems. So, preventing or reducing any excess abdominal fat through strength training can certainly improve heart health.

For example, 2013 research in the Journal of Applied Physiology demonstrates that young men who regularly strength train have better-functioning HDL, or good cholesterol, compared with those who never pump iron. Rebold explains that strength training improves blood pressure and triglyceride levels similarly to cardiovascular exercise, but it has even greater benefits on HDL.

Controlled Blood Sugar Levels
Rebold says anyone with Type 2 diabetes should incorporate resistance training into their routine. That’s because as a 2013 review published in the journal BioMed Research International showed, in addition to building muscle, strength training also improves the muscle’s ability to take in and use glucose, or blood sugar.

“In your muscle cells, you have these transporters that pick up glucose from the blood and deliver it to the muscle cells,” Rebold says. This “improves their functioning to pick up a lot more glucose from the blood and into muscle, thereby decreasing blood sugar levels.”

Reduced Cancer Risk
Visceral fat not only increases the risk of heart disease and diabetes, but it’s also been linked to an increased risk of cancer. Research from the journal Oncogene published in 2017 showed that visceral fat cells produce high levels of a cancer-triggering protein called fibroblast growth factor-2, or FGF2.
Lowered Injury Risks
“Having a good muscle base is important for all movement, balance, coordination and injury prevention,” explains Dr. Adam Rivadeneyra, a sports medicine physician with Hoag Orthopedic Institute in Irvine, California. “If a muscle is too weak, it puts more stress on its connecting tendon and (over time) can result in tendinitis.”

Plus, strength training also increases the number and diameter of collagen fibrils in tendons to increase their strength and help prevent injury, according to a 2015 review published in the International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy, a publication of the International Federation of Sports Physical Therapy.

Strengthened Mental Health
Runner’s high gets a lot of hype, but strength training also improves symptoms of clinical depression and anxiety. Exercise-triggered endorphins may play a role, but strength training also provides an opportunity to overcome obstacles in a controlled, predictable environment, increasing mental resilience, according to findings from Harvard Medical School.

For the greatest anti-anxiety effects, a 2014 review published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology shows that using low to moderately heavy weights that are lighter than 70% of what you can lift for one rep has the greatest effects on anxiety.

Improved Flexibility and Mobility
It’s time to rethink your stretching routine. By taking your joints through their full range of motion during strength exercises, you can increase that range of motion over time. Results from a 2017 study in the journal Isokinetics and Exercise Science show that strength training improves flexibility in both men and women.

A previous 2006 North American Journal of Sports Physical Therapy study suggests that eccentric strength exercises may provide the biggest benefit, improving hamstring flexibility twice as well as static stretching. Eccentric exercises are any that emphasize muscle lengthening, rather than shortening. Example exercises might include the lowering phase of a squat or raising the bar during a lat pull-down, Rivadeneyra says.

Elevated Body Image
Sure, exercise impacts body composition and physique, but research, including a 2013 Journal of Extension study of middle-aged and older women, shows that consistent strength training improves body image and perceived physical appearance – no matter the actual aesthetic results.

Improvements in mental health and energy levels, as well as feelings of accomplishment, are the likely catalysts for improved overall body image, according to researchers.

Osteoporosis Prevention and Management
Strong bodies have strong bones, with strength training significantly increasing bone mineral density, Rivadeneyra says. He explains that any weight-bearing exercise in which you’re standing and gravity is pulling down on your body lightly stresses and strengthens the bones and muscles.

Plus, every time a muscle contracts, it pulls on the bones it’s attached to, which stimulates the cells within the bone to produce structural proteins and move minerals into the bone, he says.

So, for the greatest results, prioritize standing weight-bearing, strength training moves such as squats and lunges. In a 2014 Journal of Family and Community Medicine study, just 12 weeks of strength training with squats increased lower spine and femur (thigh) bone mineral density by 2.9% and 4.9%, respectively.

Boosted Brain Health
Strength training can improve brain power across a person’s lifespan, but the effects are perhaps the strongest in older adults suffering from cognitive decline. In one 2016 study in the Journal of American Geriatrics, when men and women ages 55 through 86 with mild impairment performed twice-weekly weight training for six months, they significantly improved their scores on cognitive tests. However, when participants spent their workouts stretching, their cognitive test scores declined.

The key might be getting the blood flowing, Rebold says, noting that high-intensity strength training increases the flow of blood, oxygen and other nutrients throughout the body, including the brain. In the study, adults lifted 80% of their 1RM, or the maximum amount of weight they could lift for one rep. That roughly equates to the amount of weight they could lift for eight reps without breaking form.

A Longer Lifespan
One of strength training’s many benefits include a longer life. A 2015 study in The Lancet found that grip strength accurately predicts death from any cause. A 2017 report in Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition & Metabolic Care suggested that muscle strength and lean muscle mass may serve as better measures of a person’s overall health than body mass index or BMI