Many people assume that strength training is just for building biceps or or a huge deadlift - but did you know those bigger, stronger muscles actually support a longer, healthier life? Strength training is one of the most powerful tools we have for living longer, resisting disease, and keeping our brains sharp. And the benefits go way beyond what most people think. Exercise is medicine and many people have no idea about it.
Here are 5 awesome benefits of strength training that support health and longevity.
1. Increased Muscle Mass Decreases Risk Of Diabetes
| “Why it matters: More muscle means more storage for glucose, helping keep blood sugar in check and lowering your risk of type 2 diabetes, even if you’re not overweight..” |
Type II Diabetes has grown significantly over the years, becoming a major health issue worldwide.
Diabetes ultimately develops when your body stops being sensitive to insulin due to consistently elevated glucose levels. The issue is that after eating, glucose is uptake into your muscles.
Generally, this condition is associated with obesity and larger waist circumference. However, low muscle mass is also a concern, even if you’re at a healthy weight.
When you have low levels of mass, these stores become full faster meaning glucose can’t be absorbed resulting in high levels, just like if you ate too much.
What’s worrisome is lower amounts of muscle mass have been found to increase risk of diabetes in young, middle-age and older populations – this effects everyone.¹⁻²
You need muscle mass to keep your metabolic systems functioning at optimal levels.
Prepare to maximize your gains with our exclusive 12-week hypertrophy training program. Choose between a 4 or 5 day training split and gain 2-12 pounds of muscle over 90 days...
2. Muscle Mass Acts as an Immune System Buffer
| “Why it matters: More muscle means more backup fuel for your immune system — so you can fight illness harder, heal injuries faster, and recover more fully.” |
Skeletal muscle actually plays a critical role in supporting your immune system. This is especially true during times of;
- Illness
- Injury
- Stress
One of the key ways it does this is by serving as a reservoir for glutamine, an amino acid that immune cells rely on to function properly.³
When the body experiences trauma, infection, or systemic inflammation, it pulls from muscle tissue to supply the immune system to mount a defense. This means that individuals with higher muscle mass have a built-in buffer in the form of more glutamine.
In contrast, those with low muscle mass may not have the glutamine stores for an optimal response. This may lead to;
- Immune dysfunction
- Slower healing
- Increased vulnerability to complications.
In addition, muscle also helps regulate inflammation through myokines. Myokines are signaling proteins released during resistance exercise that can have anti-inflammatory effects.
Strength training is a protective, immune-supporting medicine that’s particularly important with aging individuals or disease.
3. Strength Training Improves Your Nervous System And Promotes Neuroplasticity
| “Why it matters: Lifting doesn’t just train your muscles — it trains your brain to build new connections, work around damage, and stay sharper for longer.” |
Neuroplasticity is your brain’s ability to rewire itself to form new neural connections and strengthen existing ones. It even plays a role rerouting signals around damaged areas.
Basically, anytime you learn something new, your brain requires neuroplasticity for this to take place. You can think about it like your brain's ability to learn and improve. This makes it a crucial factor for;
- Learning
- Memory
- Coordination
- Recovery from injury
Usually, we use things like puzzles to keep the brain healthy. However, progressive strength training is proving to be a powerful driver of neuroplasticity and an overall improved neuromuscular system.
Even though it’s vastly underrated, lifting weights challenges your nervous system to recruit muscle fibers more efficiently, synchronize movement patterns, and adapt to new loads and exercises – this is why a new exercise can be so awkward when you first perform it.
This repeated challenge stimulates the release of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a protein that promotes the growth and survival of neurons. This results in;
- Improved coordination
- Faster reaction time
- Greater movement control
Strength training has shown promise in supporting cognitive function in aging populations, enhancing motor skills after neurological injury, and even reducing the risk of neurodegenerative diseases.⁴
| “Progressive strength training improves the health and efficiency of the nervous system, improves neural drive, inter- and intra-muscular coordination, creates new signaling pathways (which can bypass damaged areas which is critical for those with MS and other neuro conditions), and promotes neuroplasticity”. - Jeff Young, EdD(c), MS, Adjunct Lecturer and Found of Medicine-Rehab-Fitness Institute (https://www.mrfinstitute.org/) |
4. Decreases Risk Of Chronic Disease
| “Why it matters: Strength protects more than your joints, it’s linked to lower risk for nearly every major chronic disease, from heart disease to cancer.” |
Mark Rippetoe once famously said “Strong people are harder to kill…”
And he was right. Physically stronger people with greater amounts of muscle mass are much more reliant against just about every chronic disease we know of.⁵
- Type 2 diabetes – Muscle acts as a glucose sink, improving insulin sensitivity.
- Cardiovascular disease – Strength training improves blood pressure, cholesterol profiles, and vascular health.
- Osteoporosis – Heavy loading stimulates bone growth and density.
- Certain cancers – Higher muscle mass is associated with reduced cancer mortality risk.
- Frailty-related decline – Stronger individuals maintain mobility, independence, and function into older age.
It would take far too long to dive into each of these for this article as there are more too! However, the more important fact is strength training with regular exercise leads to overall less mortality risk and greater quality of life.
5. Strength Training Improves Mitochondrial Health
| Why it matters: Healthy mitochondria keep your energy up, your metabolism firing, and your cells younger for longer. |
Mitochondria, aka“the powerhouses of the cell!”, is where your body produces ATP. ATP is said to be your body's energy currency as it provides energy for muscle contraction and reaction that takes place in your body.
In other words, it’s really important. As you could imagine, healthy and efficient mitochondria will function better resulting in;
- Greater energy production
- Increased endurance
- Greater recovery
This leaves two scenarios;
1. Stronger, more efficient mitochondria help combat fatigue, support metabolic health, and even protect against age-related decline in muscle function.⁶
2. Poor mitochondrial health increases insulin resistance, inflammation, and chronic disease.⁷
While cardio gets most of the credit for mitochondrial health (rightfully so), research shows that strength training also stimulates mitochondrial biogenesis, the creation of new mitochondria, especially in fast-twitch muscle fibers.
Lifting heavy forces your muscles to adapt to higher energy demands, improving both the number and efficiency of mitochondria in the trained muscles. Keeping them in top shape is essential for longevity.
Bonus: Cardiovascular Training Acts As An Effective Neuroprotector
Why it matters: Cardio feeds your brain with oxygen and growth factors that keep it healthy, boost memory, and lower your risk of cognitive decline.
Strength training is powerful in itself, but adding cardio to your routine amplifies the health effects.
Regular cardiovascular exercise acts as a potent neuroprotective tool, keeping your brain healthy and sharp. Research links consistent cardio to:
- Preserved cognitive function
- Lower risk of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s
- Sustained mental performance with age
- Better memory retention
- Improved executive function
When performed at a moderate-to-vigorous intensity (60–85% HRmax), cardio increases blood flow to the brain and boosts Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) — a key protein for brain health.⁸ Higher BDNF levels:
- Stimulate neurogenesis (growth of new brain cells)
- Enhance synaptic plasticity (improving learning and memory)
- Help the brain adapt to stress
At the same time, cardio has numerous other effects to protect the brain including;
- Reduced systemic inflammation
- Improving insulin sensitivity
- Lowers cortisol
While strength training does deliver some of these results, cardio likely plays an even bigger role.
Lifting For Longevity And Health
Above you saw numerous, powerful health benefits you get from strength training and exercise in general. Keep in mind this is in addition to things like better body composition, improved mood and increased bone strength. In fact, it’s not a stretch to say you can’t truly have optimal health without strength training. (Link Training Plans?)
References
- Hong S, Chang Y, Jung H-S, Yun KE, Shin H, Ryu S. Relative muscle mass and the risk of incident type 2 diabetes: A cohort study. PLoS One. 2017;12(11):e0188650. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0188650 https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0188650
- Son, J.W., Lee, S.S., Kim, S.R. et al. Low muscle mass and risk of type 2 diabetes in middle-aged and older adults: findings from the KoGES. Diabetologia 60, 865–872 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00125-016-4196-9
- Rogeri PS, Gasparini SO, Martins GL, et al. Crosstalk Between Skeletal Muscle and Immune System: Which Roles Do IL-6 and Glutamine Play?. Front Physiol. 2020;11:582258. Published 2020 Oct 16. doi:10.3389/fphys.2020.582258 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33178046/
- Bonanni R, Cariati I, Tarantino U, D’Arcangelo G, Tancredi V. Physical Exercise and Health: A Focus on Its Protective Role in Neurodegenerative Diseases. Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology. 2022; 7(2):38. https://doi.org/10.3390/jfmk7020038
- Momma H, Kawakami R, Honda T, Sawada SS. Muscle-strengthening activities are associated with lower risk and mortality in major non-communicable diseases: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies. Br J Sports Med. 2022;56(13):755-763. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2021-105061 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35228201/
- Porter C, Reidy PT, Bhattarai N, Sidossis LS, Rasmussen BB. Resistance Exercise Training Alters Mitochondrial Function in Human Skeletal Muscle. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2015;47(9):1922-1931. doi:10.1249/MSS.0000000000000605 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4478283/
- Goncalves, R. L. S., Wang, Z. B., Riveros, J. K., Parlakgul, G., Inouye, K. E., Lee, G. Y., … Hotamisligil, G. S. (2025, May 28). Ubiquinone deficiency drives reverse electron transport to disrupt hepatic metabolic homeostasis in obesity. Nature. https://hsph.harvard.edu/news/newly-discovered-mechanism-of-mitochondrial-dysfunction-in-obesity-may-drive-insulin-resistance-and-type-2-diabetes/
- Vecchio LM, Meng Y, Xhima K, Lipsman N, Hamani C, Aubert I. The Neuroprotective Effects of Exercise: Maintaining a Healthy Brain Throughout Aging. Brain Plast. 2018;4(1):17-52. Published 2018 Dec 12. doi:10.3233/BPL-180069 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6296262/
Garett Reid
Author