08/25/2026
A 30-year study of over 147,000 people, tracked across three major health cohorts from 1992 to 2022, just pinpointed the exact “dose” of strength training that adds years to your life.
90 to 120 minutes a week. That’s only about 13 to 17 minutes a day.
In that range, people had a 13% lower risk of dying from any cause, a 19% lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, and a 27% lower risk of dying from neurological disease.
And it gets better when you stack it: people who combined 60 to 120 minutes of strength work with a solid amount of aerobic activity — walking, cycling, running, whatever gets your heart rate up — had the lowest mortality risk of anyone in the study.
So the real prescription is boring and achievable: two to three strength sessions a week, 30 to 40 minutes each, plus regular cardio. That’s it. That’s the whole protocol.
It really is time to get moving.
Source: British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2026 (30-year study, 147,374 participants across three cohorts, 1992–2022)
