Table 1.
Associations of Resistance Training With Nontraditional Cardiovascular Risk Factors
| Nontraditional risk factor | Association | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| Cardiorespiratory fitness | ↑ or ↔ | Small or moderate improvements in fitness in adults with and without CVD (+1 to 3 mL·kg−1·min−1 in Vo2max).6,17 For people with coronary heart disease, similar improvements in Vo2max shown with RT (17%) as with aerobic training (21%)18 |
| Arterial stiffness | ↔, ↑, or ↓ | Low-intensity to moderate-intensity RT favorably associated with lower central (−0.7±1.4 m/s) and peripheral (−1.3±1.07 m/s) PWV.20 Effects of high-intensity RT are inconsistent, identifying studies with positive and negative associations with PWV.20 |
| Inflammation (CRP) | ↓ or ↔ | RT lowers CRP by −0.26 to −0.37 mg/L in adults overall.6,13 RT lowers CRP in adults with elevated cardiometabolic risk by −2.47 mg/L.6 Among 3 studies of adults with overweight or obesity, associations for CRP coincided with fat mass reduction.21 |
| Fibrinolysis and coagulation | ↑ fibrinolysis ↔ coagulation | Higher volume and intensity RT associated with a greater fibrinolytic response and platelet activity, although on the basis of limited evidence in only apparently healthy young adults.22 Among patients with coronary artery disease, a single RT session was associated with improvements in the fibrinolytic response without elevating potential thrombotic markers.22 |
| Endothelial function | ↑ | Improvements of ≈2%–3% (flow-mediated dilation) in adults with and without cardiometabolic conditions.6,23 |
| Depression and anxiety | ↓ | Moderate-effect sizes in reduction in depressive symptoms (ES=0.66).24 Small-to-moderate effect in reductions in anxiety (ES=0.33).25 |
| Quality of life | ↑ | Positive effect on mental health–related QoL measures, including total Mental Component (ES=0.54), Mental health (ES=0.64), and Vitality (ES=0.39).26 Positive effect on physical health–related QoL measures, including total Physical Component (ES=0.50), Bodily pain (ES=0.81), General health (ES=0.57), and Physical functioning (ES=0.40).26 |
| Sleep | ↑ sleep quality | Moderate-effect sizes in better sleep outcomes, with the strongest beneficial associations for sleep quality. Associations are less consistent for sleep duration.27 |
CRP indicates C-reactive protein; CVD, cardiovascular disease; ES, effect size; PWV, pulse wave velocity; QoL, quality of life; and RT, resistance training. ↑ represents direct association; ↓ represents inverse association; ↔ represents no association.