For Heart Health, Aerobic Tops Strength Training

Wondering if you should for a run or head to the gym and lift those damn weights? Geezer says run. It’s better for your heart. We know that because Scandinavian researchers recently went to great effort to track the fitness and the healthful metabolites of 580 Finnish men who were recruited into the military. The New York Times reports that, for the research, the men rode stationary bikes (aerobic exercise) and lifted weights (strength training) to test their different fitness levels. They also gave blood and reported on their usual exercise routines. The researchers then measured the amount of certain metabolites associated with heart health in the blood of the men with the greatest aerobic fitness and compared it with the metabolites of the least aerobically fit. Then they did the same with men with the greatest strength and least strength. What did they find? There was a great deal of difference in the metabolites of the most aerobically fit and the least aerobically fit, but there was almost no difference in the metabolites of men with the most strength and the least strength. The bottom line: aerobic fitness has a greater influence on your health, so go for a run, or ride your bike. Save the weights for your vanity.

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