Overview
- The Journal of the American College of Cardiology paper, published June 17, 2026, pooled 117,025 U.S. women from the Nurses' Health Study and NHS II and followed them for about 14.5 years to assess resistance training and major cardiovascular events.
- Women who did at least two hours per week of resistance training had a 20% lower risk of major cardiovascular disease compared with those who did none (hazard ratio 0.80).
- The effect was strongest for myocardial infarction, where two or more hours per week was associated with about a 44% lower risk, while no clear link was seen for stroke.
- The study found a dose–response relationship with roughly a 5% lower CVD risk per additional hour of weekly resistance training and the biggest benefit in women who combined resistance work with guideline-level aerobic activity and low TV time.
- Key limits include self-reported activity, no data on training intensity or modality, limited participant diversity, and possible residual confounding, so authors call for randomized trials and diverse studies with objective measures to test causation and guide public-health advice.