Being fit is like an "anti-aging pill," according to "An Invitation to Health," a college textbook. Author Dianne Hales wrote that fit people have fewer age-related problems, such as a higher percentage of body fat, a lower percentage of lean muscle tissue and a declining ability to exercise. Hales reported that fit people live longer than unfit people, have fewer physical and mental health problems and have more active social lives.
Explanation
Being fit is not the same thing as being healthy. In fact, you can be fit and unhealthy and vice-versa. "Dr. Dean Ornish's Program for Reversing Heart Disease" cites specific examples of great athletes who had blockages in the arteries leading to their hearts. Ornish defines fitness as "how long it takes for your heart rate to return to normal after vigorous exercise." He reported that fitter people also can exercise longer, have less fat and more muscle, and have slower resting heart rates.
Longevity
Treadmill tests measure your fitness by assessing your heart's response to exercise. Utilizing the results of treadmill tests, the Institute for Aerobics Research placed about 13,000 people into five fitness categories in 1981. In 1989, the researchers learned that men in the least fit group had a death rate of 6.4 per 1,000 men, while men in the most fit group had a death rate of 1.9 per 1,000 men. The most fit women also had much lower death rates than the least fit women. In reviewing the data, Ornish concluded that the most important finding was that people in the three middle fitness groups had death rates that were much closer to the most fit than the least fit. Thus, improving your fitness is crucial if you are very unfit. The study was published in the "Journal of the American Medical Association" on Nov. 3, 1989.
Aging
The average American adult gains one pound annually beginning in their twenties, but also loses about half a pound of lean muscle tissue annually. These changes adversely affect fitness, but aren't inevitable. Hales wrote that you can improve your fitness regardless of your age by exercising. The benefits extend beyond fitness. Fitter elderly people are more sexually active, are less likely to have high blood pressure and diabetes, suffer fewer falls and bone fractures, and are mentally sharper.
Youth
Fitness can also help young people. Fitter high school students have fewer problems with alcohol and drugs than their less fit peers and are also more involved in school and non-school activities, including sports and social events. Fitter students have better grades and better relationships with their parents. In fact, students' grades improve when they improve their fitness.
References
- "An Invitation to Health"; Dianne Hales; 2010
- The Journal of the American Medical Association: Physical Fitness and All-Cause Mortality
- "Dr. Dean Ornish's Program for Reversing Heart Disease"; Dean Ornish; 1996
- The Merck Manual of Medical Information; 2003
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