Don’t Skip the Gym: It Could Be as Bad as Smoking!!
How surprising is to hear that not exercising can be worse for your health than smoking?
According to a new study published at the Cleveland clinic this was in fact found to be true.
Background
- Current literature shows that the better your cardiorespiratory fitness (aka fitness level), the lower your risk of mortality.
- Exercise can potentially decrease your chances of developing high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke and cancer.
New Evidence
- The study looked at 122,007 patients who underwent exercise treadmill testing and found that patients participating in regular exercise had a decrease in all-cause mortality.
- High levels of aerobic fitness were correlated with the greatest survival.
- They also discovered a larger benefit to older patients and those with high blood pressure.
- Taking into account the mortality risk, they found that not exercising was comparable to and potentially even greater of a risk factor than smoking for mortality.
- Health care professionals should continue to encourage patients to participate in regular exercise.
Not Exercising = Smoking
Don’t Have Enough Time?
- You can engage is High Intensity Interval Training.
- Or try the 7 minute workout
- Even Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg has time to work out.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention;
150 minutes of moderate activity weekly
OR
75 minutes of vigorous activity weekly
In Summary
- Regular aerobic exercise at any age can improve your mortality risk
- Poor exercise tolerance on treadmill or exercise stress testing was found to have a worse prognosis (regarding death) than other risk factors including high blood pressure, diabetes or being a current smoker.
- Make sure to discuss with your doctor if you are planning to starting a new exercise program
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