Fitness and lifespan study

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socalrunner59
socalrunner59 Posts: 149 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Longterm study of a large group of men found the unfit participants with lowest VO2 max had a 42% higher risk of early death than the most fit group in the study.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/07/27/being-unfit-may-be-almost-as-bad-for-you-as-smoking/?rref=health&module=Ribbon&version=context&region=Header&action=click&contentCollection=Health&pgtype=Blogs

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  • rsclause
    rsclause Posts: 3,103 Member
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    Interesting read although I am not shocked by the findings.
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
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    So the study shows that very unfit people tend to die younger than very fit people?
  • _Waffle_
    _Waffle_ Posts: 13,049 Member
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    I read the entire article. They never once mentioned what a good VO2 max score is. It's just an arbitrary "more is good" thing so it didn't help me much.
  • brower47
    brower47 Posts: 16,356 Member
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    DavPul wrote: »
    So the study shows that very unfit people tend to die younger than very fit people?

    GROUNDBREAKING!!!
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,970 Member
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    DavPul wrote: »
    So the study shows that very unfit people tend to die younger than very fit people?

    That's not even a good summary of the title of this thread! :disappointed: The news is just how bad being unfit is for people, how that risk compares to others. It's kind of shocking.
  • socalrunner59
    socalrunner59 Posts: 149 Member
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    DavPul wrote: »
    So the study shows that very unfit people tend to die younger than very fit people?

    The article implies participants covered the full spectrum--a large group of men representative of the general population. What's sets this study apart from others is they followed the participants through their adult life. The length of the study allowed for a more accurate assessment of fitness and lifespan. Short studies had to make a lot of assumptions on fitness and lifespan. This study found a 42% risk of early death between the least fittest and fittest participants--42% increased risk is quite significant.


  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
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    Isn't that exactly what I said?
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
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    I don't even find the 42% number to be significant. They aren't using the median or even the average people to derive that number. Most fit to least fit has us comparing a 350 pound sedentary male vs a former Olympian that still engages in intense exercise 5x per week. If you had to guess which one is going to die by 55 years old where would you place your bet? I'm surprised that the difference is less than 50%.

    Compared to average, having the worst possible VO2 max only resulted in a 21% higher likelihood of early death. I would imagine that the closer to the median a person is compared to the lowest percentile the less likely they are to die early. So maybe 15% for a below average fit person (by VO2 max). Not that shocking or even that devastating, really.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,970 Member
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    Novel, interesting, and significant in my opinion:
    Poor fitness turned out to be unhealthier even than high blood pressure or poor cholesterol profiles, the researchers found. Highly fit men with elevated blood pressure or relatively unhealthy cholesterol profiles tended to live longer than out-of-shape men with good blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
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    So.......the recommendation from this study is that if a person hopes to live longer, regular exercise will be to their benefit?
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
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    DavPul wrote: »
    I don't even find the 42% number to be significant. They aren't using the median or even the average people to derive that number. Most fit to least fit has us comparing a 350 pound sedentary male vs a former Olympian that still engages in intense exercise 5x per week. If you had to guess which one is going to die by 55 years old where would you place your bet? I'm surprised that the difference is less than 50%.

    Compared to average, having the worst possible VO2 max only resulted in a 21% higher likelihood of early death. I would imagine that the closer to the median a person is compared to the lowest percentile the less likely they are to die early. So maybe 15% for a below average fit person (by VO2 max). Not that shocking or even that devastating, really.

    Yeah I was surprised too. I guess that's why people on "My 600lb Lyfe" still somehow live a surprisingly long time (50ish?). Human bodies are apparently extremely resilient no matter how much you abuse them.

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