Science & technology | Well informed

Should you start lifting weights?

You’ll stay healthier for longer if you’re strong

Heart with a face holding up weights in each hand
Illustration: Cristina Spanò

Barbells; chalk; the clang of iron plates. Strength training is having a moment. Planet Fitness, one of America’s biggest gym chains, is cutting back on treadmills in favour of power cages and trap bars. Even Peloton, a purveyor of expensive exercise bikes to the aspirational classes, is picking up the dumbbells—it now has an app targeted at strength training, rather than the cardio workouts on which it built its brand.

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