A Great Benefit of Strength Training That Have Nothing to Do with Muscle Size: Better Cardiovascular Health
Abdominal fat (also known as visceral fat) sits in and around the vital organs, including the heart. So, preventing or reducing any excess abdominal fat through strength training can certainly improve heart health.
However, studies suggest that strength training also directly impacts the heart. 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.
Strength training improves blood pressure and triglyceride levels similarly to cardiovascular exercise, but it has even greater benefits on HDL.
And 2015 research published in The Lancet medical journal shows
that grip strength (a marker for total-body muscle health) more accurately predicts death from heart disease than blood pressure does.
