Two Hours of Strength Training Per Week Cuts Heart Disease Risk in Women by 20 Percent
A large study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found that women who do at least two hours of resistance training per week have a 20 percent lower risk of major cardiovascular disease and a 44 percent lower risk of heart attack. Researchers tracked more than 117,000 women over several years.
Women who lift weights for at least two hours per week have a 20 percent lower risk of major cardiovascular disease and a 44 percent lower risk of heart attack, according to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology in June 2026.
Researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health tracked 117,025 women from the Nurses' Health Study and Nurses' Health Study II. The study found a clear dose-response relationship: every additional hour of strength training per week was linked to a 5 percent further reduction in major cardiovascular disease risk and a 14 percent further reduction in heart attack risk.
The lowest risk levels were found among women who combined strength training with at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity per week and minimized sedentary time, particularly hours spent watching television.
Researchers said resistance training provides benefits that aerobic exercise alone does not. Lifting weights improves blood sugar regulation, body composition, and vascular health. It may also help stabilize arterial plaque, which could explain the specific reduction in heart attack risk.
The protective benefits held up even after researchers adjusted for factors like diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol, though the associations weakened somewhat. The authors said this suggests strength training influences heart health through both direct physiological pathways and indirect improvements in overall health.
The study was observational, meaning it cannot prove cause and effect. Exercise habits were self-reported, and the cohort consisted largely of health professionals, which may limit how broadly the findings apply. Still, researchers called the results significant given the large sample size and long follow-up period.
