Researchers found that of the “least-fit” versus the “slightly more fit” of the nearly 4,400 healthy Americans in their recent study, roughly 20 percent with the lowest physical fitness levels doubled the risk of dying over the nine years of the study as the 20 percent with the next-lowest fitness levels. (To put it another way, those 20 percent who were almost at the lowest fitness levels.) This is the familiar “bad news/good news” outcome. It is obviously bad news if you are a confirmed sofa spud. However, it is undoubtedly good news for those who haven’t entirely embraced a sedentary lifestyle but are not, by any means, “exertive.” Apparently, those people who continue to be even moderately fit as they grow older may have a longer lifespan than those who are entirely out-of-shape, the study suggests.

The study included 4,384 middle-aged and older men and women whose fitness levels were determined during exercise treadmill tests sometime between 1986 and 2006. For an average of nine years thereafter, the researchers pursued the study groups progress. The study considered such factors like obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes. This, in and of itself, underscores the significants of being physically fit. In an email to Reuters Health, lead researcher, Dr. Sandra Mandic of the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand, wrote: “Our findings suggest that a sedentary lifestyle, rather than differences in cardiovascular risk factors or age, may explain the two-fold higher mortality rates in the least-fit versus slightly more fit individuals.”

Nearly two-thirds of the least-fit study participants were not getting the minimum recommended amount of exercise, which is at least 30 minutes of moderate activity (like brisk walking) five or more days a week. “These results emphasize the importance of improving and maintaining high fitness levels by engaging in regular physical activity,” Mandic said, “particularly in poorly-fit individuals.”

After classifying the study group participants by fitness levels, the researchers found that 13 percent of those who were in slightly better shape had died during the study period. However, 25 percent of the least-fit participants had died during the same period. Only 6 percent of the most-fit group (i.e., the ones who “won the gold”, so to speak) had died during the follow-up period.

The notable finding was that overall, the five fitness-level groups showed little difference in their reported exercise routines over their adult lives, but where they differed was their activity levels in recent years. “Since it is recent physical activity that offers protection,” Mandic said, “it is important to maintain regular physical activity throughout life.”

And, of course, just think of the health benefits we could all derive if we sought to achieve the higher levels of fitness.

SOURCE: Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, August 2009.

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