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

bjsm.bmj.com

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

#121

Post by refurb »

wrycoder wrote: post #40
arendtio wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How much time do you have to get into shape? When it takes 50 years, the statistic probably doesn't hold because you will be dead by then due to the negative influence of smoking on your health.

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

This is very true. Long ago I started biking to work, and biking really hard - basically making the best time I could.

The first few weeks, at the end of a 10 minute sprint, my heart would be racing and I would be out of breath for 5 minutes after arrival.

I was amazed after 2 months of doing the same thing I wasn't out of breath, it took maybe 1 minute for my heart rate to slow back down.

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

#122

Post by indemnity »

plorkyeran wrote: post #88
BenFranklin100 wrote: post #23

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.

Tracks with my numbers. I oscillate between 48 and 36, but my fitness is the same, I am just doing different activities.

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

#123

Post by Mathnerd314 »

The relationship isn't linear, you can see in https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/54/20/1195#sec-16 that above 2200 MET-minutes/week there is increased cancer risk which outweighs the cardiovascular benefits. Now admittedly it is a very weak correlation, and MET measurement is imprecise, but I think it is safe to say that there are risks associated with over-exercising and while being in shape is good, being a ultra-marathon runner or other extreme fitness enthusiast is unhealthy long-term, and the risks start sooner than you might expect. (2200 MET-minutes/week is about 3 hours of 8mph running per week)

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

#124

Post by refurb »

BenFranklin100 wrote: post #17

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…

What would be the point of measuring VO2Max and a DEXA scan in a mostly sedentary, obese population?

"Excuse me sir, I have you VO2Max and DEXA scan results. It shows your cardiovascular fitness and body fat is problematic. But we already knew that since your BMI is 35 and you told me you don't exercise at all".

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

#125

Post by makeitdouble »

llm_trw wrote: post #90
makeitdouble wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait-to-hip ratio is an accurate measurement of cardio-respiratory capacity ?

Morbidity and mortality, which is what the article's title is about.

Waist-to-hip ratio takes more time to change than VO2Max, it can even negatively change as a subject exercices more (e.g. they put more muscle than lose fat)

Waist-to-hip is a good predictor for generic subjects who otherwise never cared about improving their health. If the goal is to actually improve health, that assumption stops being true and you can't rely on generic heuristics anymore.

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

#126

Post by mvkel »

Aperocky wrote: post #47

Fortunately, this seems relatively simple to change (compared to other things with this magnitude of impact). It was a transformative experience to go from 40 VO2max to 57 (as reported by Apple Watch, and losing 30lbs on the way) over the past 12 months. The best part about it is that I didn't even have to give up anything - the extra energy I gained from 90-120 minutes of aerobics per day also had the effect of maki…

You should know that vo2 measurements that aren't performed via gas exchange or blood measurement are a complete guess.

The other thing is the denominator of vo2 is weight. So losing weight without working out at all will increase vo2

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

#128

Post by davorak »

jagraff wrote: post #117
s1artibartfast wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Those numbers are assuming someone who skips a day of eating doesn’t increase their calorie consumption on other days to compensate

And keep track of the calories in the meals they do eat to make sure they are not compensating is going to take nonzero time.

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

#129

Post by Aerroon »

s1artibartfast wrote: post #67
arendtio wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How much time do you have to get into shape? When it takes 50 years, the statistic probably doesn't hold because you will be dead by then due to the negative influence of smoking on your health.

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.

There was a relatively recent study that found that BMR has actually been dropping over the last 30 years. The difference in men was large enough (7% iirc) that it would explain most of the obesity epidemic.

Why it's dropping is still a n mystery though.

Nevertheless, the solution is still the same: eat less.

The study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10445668/

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

#130

Post by EasyMark »

AbbeSomething wrote: post #99
m463 wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

Since Amsterdam is a "peak biking" city, I wouldn't trust the cited study to even apply there and would think that an independent study would be needed since it would be likely an outlier.
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