Lift weights: you'll live longer

[andygates]

Interesting stuff here: http://io9.com/5953154/why-getting-physically-stronger-will-help-you-to-live-longer

tl;dr: Strength > mortality.

Or as Rip said, "Strong people are harder to kill." In particular, regular resistance work significantly delays that collapse into frailty that the elderly experience. And it keeps your brain working (remember that whole body-mind thing? yeah, that): that staves off dementia and its ilk.

[ETFnerd]

actually the literature indicates that cardio will result in lengthening your life, but resistance training by itself won't... also, low intensity is better than high intensity in this respect... i wouldn't take anything rip says as science...

[chairohkey]

actually the literature indicates that cardio will result in lengthening your life, but resistance training by itself won't... i wouldn't take anything rip says as science...

http://startingstrength.com/articles/barbell_medicine_sullivan.pdf

[ETFnerd]

obviously lifting is better than not exercising at all and everything that that entails.

however if you are a healthy individual exercising regularly, eating a good diet, sleeping well and keeping stress under control, lifting isn't going to "repair you" and make you live longer. if you lift at high intensity, it will likely cause excess wear and tear on your body.

cardio at low intensity however will optimize your cardiovascular profile given your personal genetic constraints.

lifting at high intensity on the other hand, will cause you to walk around with excess muscle that over years and decades will tax your cardiovascular system very similarly to what would happen if you were overweight with excess fat. huge guys just do not live as long, and over long periods of time this principle applies whether you carry 10 extra lbs of muscle or 50lbs of excess muscle. that's the exact reason why 20lb dogs live a lot longer than 50lb dogs whether they're fat or not. the cardiovascular system services a larger load and just gives out faster in larger animals.

a stronger heart will likely work longer. that's not to say that lifting won't strengthen you heart, but this is an issue of relative efficiency where low intesity cardio will do a lot more and faster to strengthen the heart muscle than lifting at high intensity ever will.

netnet, the cardiovascular capacity you develop over long periods of time through low intensity cardio is essential to life... the muscles you develop through lifting are not...

[Razor]

A stronger cardiovascular system lets you live longer. A stronger musculoskeletal system will help prevent things like osteoporosis or "feeling old" where you are bed-ridden or have to walk around with that tennis ball stool thingy.

However a lot of muscle mass can also tax the cardiovascular system if it isn't strengthened as much. Not to mention I've read some studies (which are obviously inconclusive, as almost all cancer studies are) that the increased cell activity and replication process causes your DNA to pretty much go senile quicker (this is bad wording, but I can't think of a better phrase). This thinning out of DNA puts you at higher risk for cancer. So supposedly, increased muscle growth increases the risk of cancer.

But who cares. I'm not lifting weights to be healthy in 60 years. I'm lifting weights to be healthy NOW.