“Close” isn’t usually a word we connect in our mind with success. Indeed, with the exception of playing horseshoes, not many things in life, it seems, count much at all if you don’t “hit the nail right on the head.” Fortunately, this may not be an absolute when it comes to living longer. As a chiropractor in Santa Barbara, who has many senior patients and who is also a firm believer in the advantages of exercise at every age, I was very happy to read about the results of the following study.
Researchers found that of the “least-fit” versus the “slightly more fit” in a recent study of nearly 4,400 healthy U.S. adults, roughly 20 percent with the lowest physical fitness levels doubled the risk of dying over the next nine years as the 20 percent with the next-lowest fitness levels. (To put it another way, those 20 percent who were almost at the lowest fitness levels.) This is the familiar “bad news/good news” situation. It is obviously bad news if you are a confirmed sofa spud. But, it is undoubtedly good news for those who haven’t completely embraced a sedentary lifestyle but are not, by definition, very active. Apparently, those individuals who continue to be even moderately fit as they age may have a longer lifespan than those who are completely out-of-shape, the study suggests.
Between 1986 and 2006, researchers evaluated the fitness levels of 4,384 middle-aged and senior men and women during exercise treatmill tests. The researchers then pursued their progress for an average of nine years. Such factors as obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure were taken into consideration in the study. This, in and of itself, underscores the significants of physical fitness itself. In an email to Reuters Health, lead researcher, Dr. Sandra Mandic of the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand, stated: “Our findings suggest that a sedentary lifestyle, rather than differences in cardiovascular risk factors or age, may explain the two-fold higher mortality rates in the least-fit versus slightly more fit individuals.”
Nearly two-thirds of the participants at the least-fit level were not getting the minimum recommended amount of exercise, which is at least 30 minutes of moderate activity (like brisk walking) five or more days a week. “These results emphasize the importance of improving and maintaining high fitness levels by engaging in regular physical activity,” Mandic said, “particularly in poorly-fit individuals.”
After separating the study group participants by fitness levels, the researchers determined that 13 percent of those who were in slightly better shape had died during the study period. But, 25 percent of the least-fit men and women had died during the same period. Only 6 percent of the most-fit group (i.e., the ones who “hit the nail right on the head”, so to speak) had died during the follow-up period.
The compelling finding was that overall, the five fitness-level groups showed little dissimilarity in their reported exercise practices over their adult lives, but where they varied was their activity levels in recent years. “Since it is recent physical activity that offers protection,” Mandic said, “it is important to maintain regular physical activity throughout life.”
And, of course, imagine the health benefits we could all experience if we sought to achieve the higher levels of fitness.
SOURCE: Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, August 2009.