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Regular physical activity and fitness levels are important for overall health and well-being. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
According to a recent study, your level of cardiorespiratory fitness in midlife can not only help determine how long you live, but also how many of those years you spend in good health. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The study showed that adults with higher midlife cardiorespiratory fitness lived longer, developed fewer chronic diseases, and spent more years free from serious illness than those with lower fitness. The results were recently published in the JACC<\/a>, the flagship journal of the American College of Cardiology.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cPeople with higher fitness may also have had other health advantages, such as better diet, less smoking, or more consistent access to care,\u201d said Robert Glatter<\/a>, MD, attending physician in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, and assistant professor of emergency medicine at Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra\/Northwell. Glatter wasn\u2019t involved in the study.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe findings are very much in line with decades of research<\/a> showing that cardiorespiratory fitness is one of the strongest markers of long-term health,\u201d Glatter told Healthline.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Life span refers to how long you live. Health span refers to how long you live free of any major chronic diseases. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n The study results showed that cardiorespiratory fitness can not only affect life span but also health span. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n It followed 24,576 adults, 25% of whom were females, from the Cooper Center Longitudinal Study (CCLS). The participants were healthy individuals ages 65 or younger. The researchers later tracked their health outcomes using Medicare<\/a> data. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Participants\u2019 fitness was measured before age 65 using a treadmill test. During the study, the researchers used Medicare data to identify major chronic diseases for each participant. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n They defined major diseases using 11 chronic conditions: <\/p>\n<\/div>\n The results showed that males with higher fitness levels had a 2% longer health span, 9% fewer diseases, and a 3% longer life span than those with lower fitness levels. The results showed similar patterns among females. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThis study confirms our understanding of cardiorespiratory fitness as a marker of future health outcomes, and should encourage all of us to make physical activity a part of our daily lives,\u201d Cheng-Han Chen<\/a>, MD, board certified interventional cardiologist and medical director of the Structural Heart Program at MemorialCare Saddleback Medical Center in Laguna Hills, CA, told Healthline. Chen wasn\u2019t involved in the study.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Mary Greene<\/a>, MD, a board certified cardiologist with Manhattan Cardiology in NYC, wasn\u2019t involved in the study but noted a \u201cdose-response benefit\u201d in the findings. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cEven modest increases in cardiovascular fitness can lead to a Still, Glatter said the findings should be interpreted with caution. \u201cThe study does not prove cause and effect. It was an observational study, so it cannot prove that higher fitness directly caused the better outcomes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n The main way to improve your cardiorespiratory fitness is to maintain regular physical activity. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe encouraging answer is that improvement does not require becoming an athlete,\u201d said Glatter. \u201cFor most adults, the target is at least \u201cA useful rule of thumb is this: during moderate exercise, you can talk but not sing; during vigorous exercise, you can only say a few words before needing a breath,\u201d Glatter said. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Chen agreed. \u201cI would encourage people to do at least 20\u201330 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, such as brisk walking, on most days of the week. As their fitness increases, they can then increase either the length or intensity of the exercise,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n