A study shows resistance training is beneficial for black men
It appears heart health and weightlifting go hand in hand—for black men, anyway. A study found lifting weights for as little as six weeks had a positive impact on the blood levels of key indicators for inflammation, immune response and artery shape in participants.
An interesting note: The impact from weight lifting exercises was seen only in black men; white participants didn’t experience the same benefit.
“This suggests that resistance exercise training is more beneficial in young African-American men than in [white] men of the same age,” Bo Fernhall, lead author of the study, said in a news release. “Higher blood pressures in African-American children have been shown as young as 8 to 10 years of age. So there’s obviously something going on that predisposes the African-American population to end-stage disease, hypertension and stroke and the more debilitating diseases later on in life.”
The No. 1 killer of all Americans, heart disease, particularly in the form of high blood pressure, stroke and kidney disease, is more prevalent among blacks than whites.
