Prevention & lipidsCohort study
Resistance Training, Aerobic Activity, Television Viewing, and Risk of Major Cardiovascular Events in U.S. Women
- Prospective cohort study
- time-varying cumulative averages
Authors' conclusion
In this large prospective study of U.S. women, consistent resistance training, especially when integrated with recommended levels of aerobic activity and reduced sedentary television viewing, was associated with a substantially lower risk of major CVD, particularly MI.
Study context
- Population
- Women in the Nurses' Health Study (2002–2020) and Nurses' Health Study II (2003–2017)5,459 major cardiovascular disease (CVD) events
- Participants
- 117,025 women
- Exposure
- Resistance training ≥2 h/wk vs no resistance training
- Outcome
- Incident major CVD (nonfatal or fatal myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, CABG or PCI)
- Follow-up
- Mean 14.5 years
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Major CVD · mean 14.5 years
Hazard ratio (95% CI)P value
≥2 h/wk vs No resistance training
0.80(0.69–0.92)
P = 0.007for trendper additional 1 h/wk
0.95(0.92–0.99)
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
| Outcome | HR (95% CI) | |
|---|---|---|
| MI (≥2 h/wk vs none) | 0.56 (0.41–0.76) | |
| Stroke (≥2 h/wk vs none) | 0.99 (0.80–1.23) | |
| 0.512Hazard ratio (log scale) |
Major CVD by joint recommendations (aerobic ≥15 MET-h/wk, resistance training ≥1 h/wk, TV <2 h/d)
- Met aerobic, resistance training and low sedentary TV viewing recommendations: HR
- 0.60 (95% CI 0.53-0.69)
- Met aerobic and low sedentary TV viewing recommendations but not resistance training: HR
- 0.73 (95% CI 0.67-0.80)
Consistency (≥75% of follow-up) and upper + lower limb training
- Associated with stronger inverse associations
Original publication
Resistance Training, Aerobic Activity, Television Viewing, and Risk of Major Cardiovascular Events in U.S. Women. J Am Coll Cardiol. Published 25 May 2026. doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2026.04.036
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it