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Fitness through regular exercising is considered key to preventing diseases and living a longer, healthier life.
Most people are obsessed with losing weight in the modern world and often overlook the importance of keeping yourself physically fit. (Photo: Shutterstock)
Maintaining your fitness has a much bigger impact on your longevity than the number on the weighing scale. Most people are obsessed with losing weight in the modern world and often overlook the importance of keeping yourself physically fit. Fitness through regular exercising is considered key to preventing diseases and living a longer, healthier life. A study has now confirmed the same, suggesting that being physically fit is a stronger predictor of longevity regardless of your Body Mass Index (BMI). This means people who are more muscular may live longer than those with a low BMI but are not fit.
The study on fitness, body weight and longevity was recently published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. Through this study, researchers found out that aerobically fit people significantly reduce their risk of premature death even if their BMI level is slightly high. Your body’s aerobic fitness is proportional to how well your heart, lungs and muscles work together to supply oxygen while exercising.
Doctor Siddhartha Angadi, cardiovascular exercise physiologist at the University of Virginia and senior author of the study spoke to Health about his team’s research in an email. “The risk of being unfit far exceeds the risks of carrying some extra pounds,” he said. “Too many folks simply view exercise as a means to expending calories whereas exercise is a powerful tool for improving cardiorespiratory, muscle, and metabolic health, and often these benefits occur even in the absence of weight change,” the doctor added.
Speaking further on the subject, Doctor Siddhartha Angadi highlighted how weight loss attempts fail after a few years when people fail to get the desired results. “Nearly 100% of weight loss attempts fail after five years, and people may abandon exercise programs simply because they do not see the number on the scale change,” he said. He also urged people to treat fitness as more than just a number. “People should recognize that fitness is more than just a number on the scale,” he concluded.
Why is exercising more important than having a lower weight?
Boosts good cholesterol
Regular exercise can help with cholesterol management. Physical activity boosts good cholesterol and reduces harmful triglycerides.
Blood pressure management
Physical activity can improve blood flow in your body which further helps in maintaining blood pressure levels.
Better digestive health
Regular exercising helps with better digestion of food which enhances your gut health.
