Not Exercising is the Worse Thing For Your Health
Surprising results show that a lack of cardiovascular fitness or leading a sedentary lifestyle is a huge risk factor for death. It’s worse for your health than smoking, diabetes and heart disease. In a recent study published in JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) Network Open which was conducted over a 23-year period and surveying over 122,000 patients, the study looked at the association between cardiorespiratory fitness and long-term mortality. The doctors found the numbers quite surprising.
The study found that lack of exercise is worse than being a smoker. Dr. Wael Jaber, a cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic and senior author of the research states that “Being unfit on a treadmill or in an exercise stress test has a worse prognosis, as far as death, than being hypertensive, being diabetic or being a current smoker. People who do not perform very well on a treadmill test have almost double the risk of people with kidney failure or dialysis.” He says, “We’ve never seen something as pronounced as this and as objective as this.”
According to Dr. Jaber, what made the study unique was that when doctors tested the patients and compared those with a sedentary lifestyle to those who exercise regularly or intensely, he said the risk associated with death is “500% higher. If you compare the risk of sitting versus the highest performing on the exercise test, the risk is about three times higher than smoking.”
We typically think of other factors that can impact our overall health such as the foods we eat, how much sleep we get, etc. but a sedentary lifestyle has the most negative impact on our health and is the most deadly. It is looked at as a disease and the cure for that is exercise. Jaber points out that the benefits of exercise were seen in both men and women regardless of the age. They will benefit in the same way.
The study also looked at the risk of being overactive, for example marathoners and those with extremely high cardiovascular fitness and found that there is no such thing as too much exercise but there is such a thing as too little.
The bottom line is leading a sedentary lifestyle is unhealthy, dangerous and expensive. The cure for this is exercise. Being fit leads to a longer life span with no limit to the benefits of exercise. The key is to get moving, stay active and exercise daily.
If you’re uncertain where to start check with your doctor to get medical clearance and then seek out a fitness professional to help you get started.
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