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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

#191

Post by s1artibartfast »

EasyMark wrote: post #139
s1artibartfast wrote: post #67

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.

clearly there is no "just" to it as a level of effort on the part of those who are overweight. It is not an easy road and something like 95% of the people fail at it, so I guess it depends on what your meaning of "just" is.

“Just“ means the options and consequences are clear. The actions are the hard part.

People are faced with the choice between eating more or living longer, and nearly everyone knows it.

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

#192

Post by TechDebtDevin »

buildsjets wrote: post #89
ashconnor wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pretty sure Dexa scans and VO2Max tests are HSA/FSA eligible.

What about it? It’s still coming out of my pocket, albeit untaxed.

DEXA cost <$200 most places (I think closer to $100)

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

#193

Post by s1artibartfast »

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

Yep. You can't eat your way to weight loss. There there isn't any easy trick to beat the laws of physics.

Just eat less and burn more calories.

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

#194

Post by SamPatt »

layman51 wrote: post #16
MPSimmons wrote: post #3

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 wonder how it estimates VO2Max and how often depending on the model. On my Series 3, it seems to make a data point two or three times a month and it’s concerning to me because it seems like it isn’t trending up even though I have started to do more cardio exercises. Instead, it has consistently reported a range that it says is below average. Could it be that it’s just pretty difficult to improve VO2Max in general?…

The FitBit vo2max estimate is fairly crude, at least for my model.

It requires a ten minute run on level ground at a certain heart rate to "calibrate" but tries to estimate it from other exercise too.

It leads to the number fluctuating quite a bit between runs and other exercises.

I'd argue that how you feel during a run or hard cardio training is a better metric. You can fairly easily judge progress week to week, completely subjectively.

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

#195

Post by dailykoder »

snemvalts wrote: post #170
weatherlite wrote: post #163

It's also absolutely amazing for mental health. It's a shame it isn't considered a first line of treatment for mental health because it's super effective (and free).

Instead, people try to fix it with antidepressants, benzodiazepines or something else. It feels a bit like the US approach to pain management – instead of massages or physical therapy, some opioid pill is cheaper to prescribe.

I dislike this black n white rhetoric from both sides. "Just do some workout" - "no this doesn't work for me". Yes, workout does help, but mental illness is still real. Both sides should try to be more sensitive and more understanding in my opinion.

I can't fix my social anxiety through workout. But I sure can feel better about myself when doing it and then approach those anxieties with more confidence, but the anxieties are still there.

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

#196

Post by TechDebtDevin »

kamaal wrote: post #144

Not sure how true this is, I heard in the Joe Rogan podcast, cardio vascular fitness, like the extreme kind correlates with nearly the entire disease spectrum. It doesn't apply to something like 'acts of god' type things like Cancer or COVID. But it seems to be the best bet against aging, and other diseases. My favorite exercise in this regard is Swimming and Kettlebell training. Disclaimer: This is not an endorsemen…

It turns out having the intelligence to not listen to JRs advice on most things will likely increase your life expectancy.

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

#197

Post by ParacelsusOfEgg »

Mathnerd314 wrote: post #123

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-maratho…

Great share! That meta-analysis was a good read.

I'd disagree slightly with your characterization of the author's findings on over-exercising; quoting from the discussion section:

"Our findings do not provide evidence for increased mortality risk with physical activity amounts as high as seven times above the current recommended target range. All cause, CVD and CHD mortality risks were lower at physical activity levels up to approximately 5–7 times the recommended level but the additional reduction in risk of mortality with engagement in activity at levels beyond the recommendations was modest and with increasing uncertainty, as reflected by the wide confidence intervals. Thus based on all of the available studies, we did not identify a higher mortality risk at any level of physical activity above the recommended level, although the lowest point estimate for all cause mortality was approximately 2000 MET min. Our analyses suggest that 10–12 hours of weekly vigorous physical activity cannot be considered harmful to longevity."

My reading is that the authors did not draw any conclusions about increased risks at higher MET levels due to the broad confidence intervals caused by the cancer risk data.

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

#198

Post by dailykoder »

MPSimmons wrote: post #3

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.

But do you really need a botnet on your arm to get motivated to do sports once a week? Weird society

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

#199

Post by rgoulter »

chrisoconnell wrote: post #143

Over the past 11 months, I've lost 122lbs, from 330lbs to 208lbs. (May 30, 2023 - Today) For the first 2 months, cardio was not part of it. Really focusing on diet, reintroducing myself to portions of Whole Foods to hit macro goals. Really focusing on vegetables and protein, large quantities of low calorie foods that digest relatively slowly to keep me satiated for long periods. They're also quick to digest. I was al…

Congrats on the progress!

> It's also a myth, perpetuated by highly trained athletes that you cannot gain muscle and do cardio, or that you cannot do these things while in a caloric deficit.

I think it's more accurate to describe this in terms of definitions: "gains muscle while in caloric deficit" is possible for the untrained/beginners.

> For the first 2 months, cardio was not part of it.

It's really easy for bad diet decisions to counteract the effects of even a significant amount of cardio; and it's easy to fatigue the body by trying to do too much cardio.

For aiming for calorie deficit, I think it makes sense "do what's least awful out of: reduce calories in food, or add cardio".

> Cardio health is life changing.

I noticed my chess.com rating improved just from improving cardiovascular health.

> started isolated training for muscle hypertrophy utilizing machines for 5+ days a week

My impression as a beginner was that free weights were scary and that there were many exercises you'd have to choose from. (Whereas machines seemed idiot proof). In practice, "squat, deadlift, benchpress" would be a good start. (Or a starting point to read about, anyway).

https://exrx.net/ is an outstanding website that I wish I'd come across sooner.

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

#200

Post by [deleted] »

TylerE wrote: post #150
Jimmc414 wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

n=1, but I can personally attest to going from average sedentary 29 year old to marathon running shape in roughly 3 weeks of continuous hiking 8 to 10 hours a day in the Appalachian mountains with a pack that was about 35% of my body weight.

I have a hard time believing that a truly sedentary person could do that.

[deleted]
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