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Cardio fitness is a strong, consistent predictor of morbidity and mortality

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Re: Cardio fitness is a strong, consistent predictor of morbidity and mortality

#91
post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its not cardiovasuclar, but the top 2 causes of death in the US are tied to obesity, which takes zero time to reduce. You just have to not eat, which is actually time positive. Most humans are just incredibly bad at impulse control.

It can take months to go from obese to not obese through calorie restriction

Of course. I was responding to the time spent (out of ones day), opposed to calendar days of not eating.

That said, people can make pretty rapid weight loss without eating. skip eating 1 day a week and that is 30 lbs a year for an average obese man. skip 2 days/week and that is 60 lbs/year.

Re: Cardio fitness is a strong, consistent predictor of morbidity and mortality

#92
I was blown away at just how little exercise is required to significantly increase your lifespan: 20 minutes a day, 3 times a week. That's it.

The Copenhagen City Heart Study, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology in 2018 found that light jogging for 20 minutes a day, 3x a week reduces all-cause mortality by 78%.

That's insane.

Re: Cardio fitness is a strong, consistent predictor of morbidity and mortality

#93

The Apple watch has a decent cardio fitness monitor. The absolute values aren't precise (since it uses VO2Max estimates, which is really only accurate if you're doing a metabolic stress test), but it's good to keep an eye on trends.

I love my Garmin Fenix 6 pro.

Re: Cardio fitness is a strong, consistent predictor of morbidity and mortality

#94
post #11

There’s amusing statistics that show that if you’re out of shape and a smoker, you get a bigger bang for the buck from getting in shape first than quitting smoking. Disclaimer: not an endorsement of smoking.

That sounds like the sort of stuff you’d remember because it validates what you already want to believe

I remember when going through scuba diving certification, the instructor mentioned that smokers generally get more time out of a tank because their lungs absorb oxygen more efficiently or something like that. And she smoked a lot.

Re: Cardio fitness is a strong, consistent predictor of morbidity and mortality

#95
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It only takes a few months to make substantial gains in c-v fitness.

Define substantial. I find that incredible. EDIT: Now that I've seen the replies, I realize that this is from a very low baseline. I'm personally going to the gym four to five days a week already and my own cardiovascular fitness has not seen much of an improvement in many months.

[deleted]

Re: Cardio fitness is a strong, consistent predictor of morbidity and mortality

#96
post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its not cardiovasuclar, but the top 2 causes of death in the US are tied to obesity, which takes zero time to reduce. You just have to not eat, which is actually time positive. Most humans are just incredibly bad at impulse control.

To be fair, our diets and lifestyles changed drastically in the 20th century. When we're bombarded with advertisements of highly caloric, processed, sugary foods engineered to flood our taste buds and trigger dopamine, we can't be surprised that people get addicted to it. Combine that with forms of entertainment, transportation, and a work culture that keep us sedentary, and it's no wonder many people struggle with b…

indeed, a lot has changed from when we lived on rural farms doing manual labor.

People aren't going back to the farms, so we need to adopt new behaviors and norms around self control. There is simply no viable alternative.

Re: Cardio fitness is a strong, consistent predictor of morbidity and mortality

#98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As the OP mentioned, absolute numbers are garbage, but trends are useful. Once a year just get an actual VO2Max test to peg the watch values too.

The trends are garbage too. According to my watch my VO2Max has swung wildly between 55 and 45 over the last year, while every other measurement points to my fitness staying mostly steady.

Mine swings around as well, and I attribute it to the fact that Apple only uses Outdoor Walk, Outdoor Run, and Hiking to estimate VO2Max. Mine trends down in the winter months when most of my intense cardio is happening indoors on the treadmill or elliptical machine, and most of my outdoor activities are leisurely walks with the dog in poor conditions.

Re: Cardio fitness is a strong, consistent predictor of morbidity and mortality

#99
post #71
post #11

There’s amusing statistics that show that if you’re out of shape and a smoker, you get a bigger bang for the buck from getting in shape first than quitting smoking. Disclaimer: not an endorsement of smoking.

reminds me of the bicycle helmet stuff. There was a ted talk that said bicycle helmet laws would kill more people than save. The reasoning was preventing people from riding would also prevent increased fitness, and more lives were lost from that than saved from accidents. EDIT: I think this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07o-TASvIxY

This sounds ridiculous until you go to Amsterdam see that few wear helmets there. And everyone is cycling.

They might be more inclined to cycle because they don’t need to wear a helmet.

After years of cycling with helmet you get so used to it and it doesn’t bother you. But how many skip the bike because they never got used to wearing a helmet?

Re: Cardio fitness is a strong, consistent predictor of morbidity and mortality

#100

I am disappointed by how poor primary care is in the developed world. It could easily be made better by including a VO2Max test and a DEXA scan every few years. On my own dime, I took both (cost was ~ $150 total from a private provider) and the DEXA scan revealed I carried too much visceral fat and my cardiovascular fitness was only average, things that never came up in my yearly physical. The same applies for basic…

Have to weight it against whether people are meaningfully willing to act on that information. Bluntly, I go to a Dr for meds. I have never been willing to make any lifestyle changes.

And this is part of the problem. Doctors will give you medicine instead of trying to fix anything. Medicine should be a last resort not the the first
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