Benefits of Physical Fitness

[Guest guest]

ORVILLE ROGERS is a great example of the benefits of physical fitness. At 82, he has the vital signs of most people half his age — even though he has undergone bypass surgery for six arteries in his heart. “People of any age need to be active physically in order to enjoy life, and to have a long life,” says. Of course we’ve all heard that, but few people — even doctors —have understood that fitness is far more important than many other factors people often worry about. A study out Wednesday in The New England Journal of Medicine — one of the largest ever — proves it. “You are better off being fat and fit than skinny and sedentary. And you are better off smoking a pack a day and exercising regularly than being a non-smoker and sedentary. Don’t misunderstand me:

Advertisement

In no way am I endorsing obesity or cigarette smoking, I’m trying to tell you how dangerous it is to be sedentary,” says Dr. Ken of the Aerobics Center in Dallas. , who has been studying and promoting fitness for 31 years, says the latest research offers more evidence. STUDY DETAILS Doctors at the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System/Stanford University gave 6,000 middle-aged men treadmill tests and followed them for up to a decade. In treadmill tests, which are routinely used to check for heart trouble, patients are hooked up to sensors - including a mask to measure the amount of oxygen and carbon dioxide in each breath - and walk on a treadmill at gradually increasing speed and angle. They continue until they are exhausted, reach their maximum heart rate, or develop chest pain or other symptom of heart disease. The study found that a person’s chances of staying alive rise 12 percent with each increase of one “metabolic equivalent” when exercising as hard as one can on a treadmill.

A metabolic equivalent, or MET, is defined as the amount of oxygen used by an average seated person. Two METs is roughly equivalent to walking less than 2 mph; 5 METs to walking at 4 mph; and 8 METs to jogging at 6 mph. The least fit were 4.5 times more likely to die within six years than the most fit. And that held true even if the men had heart trouble, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, were fat or smoked. The study does not mean everyone need exercise heavily — a walk a day makes a big difference. In fact, the study found that the improvement in death rates was largest between the lowest 20 percent and the next-lowest 20 percent. But it does prove that a total lack of exercise can be more deadly than most people know. Bazell's HealthBeat