Moderate Activity Better for Longevity

This morning I was scrolling on Instagram and I came across a post from a fellow Canadian Pilates studio boasting that moderate intensity strength training proves better for longevity than heavy lifting. I don’t believe almost anything I read on the internet (I am a skeptic at heart). I knew I had to research this further. I found the systematic review that the studio was referring to and decided to write about it.

American College of Sport Medicine (ACSM) defines moderate intensity cardiovascular intensity as 64-76% of maximum (max) heart rate (HR) and vigorous intensity as 77-95% max HR (American College of Sports Medicine et al., 2021). Moderate lifting would be completing 10-25 reps, working towards near failure, whereas heavy lifting would be training ultimate strength with maximal lifts of 3-5 reps.

I have written several articles about how I enjoy moderate training versus any extremes because I think gentle consistency always wins out for health and wellness goals of fat loss, strength, pain reduction, and increased health. I have referenced those articles below. Here at PLS we often perform moderate weight/moderate reps, as well as, lower weight/higher reps, and rarely ever lift super heavy. Why? Studies show you are able to stay more consistent when exercises feel good and when you are not consistently sidelined by injuries from placing unnecessary stress on the joints (Rodrigues et al., 2020). Why lift heavy when you don’t have to?

I include a few higher intensity trainings into my own routine because numerous studies show that as we age we lose our type 2 muscle fibres, the “power” fibres that help us move faster and prevent falls (Kenney et al., 2022). During PLS’s Pilates+Cardio classes we jump on the jumpboard, mountain climb on the mat, perform one legged fast squats off the sitting box that increase the power in our muscles and build bone density. For longer cardio sessions I often run and bike at mainly moderate intensity, and I do add several faster sprints to help increase power in my legs and strengthen my heart and lungs, reaching to 80-85% of my maximal heart rate. But those sprints are few and far between. Why? Because truthfully, I wouldn’t go out for my run if it was super high intensity all the time. I ALWAYS pick gentle consistency. Gentle consistency doesn’t mean workouts shouldn’t be challenging, we do need to appropriately challenge our bodies to get stronger, but just that we don’t have to work out at such an intensity where we have pools of sweat on the floor or we are about to puke. We just need well designed workouts that challenge us appropriately, which is what we do best here at PLS :)

That 2023 systemic review mentioned that very large volumes of strenuous/vigorous exercise and/or heavy weightlifting may not be ideal for optimizing longevity (O’Keefe et al., 2023). And that high doses of moderate physical activity is best to reduce cardiovascular disease and all causes of mortality (O’Keefe et al., 2023). Pilates falls perfectly within these recommendations as it’s within the moderate lifting category for strength training, Joseph Pilates (1883-1967) was definitely ahead of his time.

Resources:

O’Keefe, J. H., O’Keefe, E. L., Eckert, R., & Lavie, C. J. (2023). Training Strategies to Optimize Cardiovascular Durability and Life Expectancy. Missouri Medicine, 120(2), 155–162.

American College of Sports Medicine, Liguori, G., Feito, Y., Fountaine, C., & Roy, B. (Eds.). (2021). ACSM’s guidelines for exercise testing and prescription (Eleventh edition). Wolters Kluwer.

Rodrigues, F. F. (2022). The bright and dark side of motivation in exercise: Promoting persistence and adherence [ProQuest Information & Learning]. In Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B: The Sciences and Engineering (Vol. 83, Issue 5–B).

Kenney, W. L., Wilmore, J. H., & Costill, D. L. (2022). Physiology of sport and exercise (Eighth edition). Human Kinetic.