Walking, cycling, stairs, fitness, fitness level, health, research, Indian Express
Researchers said the benefits of fitness were seen in men and women, in all age groups, and at all fitness levels.
A large-scale study unveiled on Friday claims that taking the stairs, cycling, or walking to work may help you live longer, regardless of age, sex, and starting fitness level.
“People think they have to start going to the gym and exercising hard to get fitter,” said Elin Ekblom-Bak from the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences in Stockholm.
“But it doesn’t have to be that complicated. For most people, being more active in daily life – taking the stairs, exiting the metro station early, cycling to work – is enough to benefit health since levels are so low. The more you do, the better,” Ekblom-Bak said.
The study included 316,137 adults aged 18-74 who had their first occupational health screening in Sweden between 1995 and 2015.
Cardiorespiratory fitness was measured using a submaximal cycle test and expressed as maximal oxygen uptake (VO2 max).
This is the maximum amount of oxygen the heart and lungs can provide the muscles during exercise, according to the study presented at EuroPrevent 2019, the annual congress of the European Association of Preventive Cardiology (EAPC) in Portugal.
Swedish national registries were used to obtain data on all-cause mortality and first-time cardiovascular events (fatal and non-fatal myocardial infarction, angina pectoris, or ischaemic stroke) during 1995-2015.
With each milliliter increase in VO2 max, the risk of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular events fell by 2.8 percent and 3.2 percent, respectively.
Researchers said the benefits of fitness were seen in men and women, in all age groups, and at all fitness levels.
Previous studies have been too small to ascertain whether all of these subgroups profit from improving their cardiorespiratory fitness.
Researchers said there was no plateau of benefit in the total population, with some variation between sex and age subgroups.
“It is particularly important to note that an increase in fitness was beneficial regardless of the starting point,” said Ekblom-Bak.
“This suggests that people with lower levels of cardiorespiratory fitness have the most to gain from boosting their fitness,” Ekblom-Bak said.
Ekblom-Bak said increasing fitness should be a public health priority, and clinicians should assess fitness during health screening.
