Live long and prosper.
No you’ve not switched over to Star Trek but it’s true that if asked
most people would say that their goal would be to enjoy a healthy life for as
long as possible. So in the fight to
stay alive is it better to be fit or thin?
With increased weight come increased risks of
threatening diseases, the type we all want to avoid. But what serves us best overall, a low BMI or an
increased level of fitness?
A recent study: The Aerobics Centre Longitudinal Study made some
interesting findings and raised some interesting points.
Firstly, rather than struggle at home to diet off some excess pounds
their findings revealed that you’re better off joining a gym. This study, was widely researched over 12
years, looking at results across 15,000 adults, mostly male and mostly
overweight. It showed that those men
with an increased rate of fitness had a much lower mortality rate, in fact
close to 40% lower. In fact even those
who didn’t increase their overall fitness, but maintained it at the same level
outlived those who atrophied, or showed a decline.
Exercise, in accounting for weight loss, has come under scrutiny in the
more recent past. That is to say that if
you carry on with highly processed and calorie dense foods but pop into the gym
a couple of times a week, training alone will not be sufficient to shift the
pounds. A safe and healthy nutritious
diet plays a major role in maintaining a healthy weight.
Why is this? Because you have to
work very hard indeed to burn around 500 calories. It would take approximately a solid hour of
intensive cardio activity to burn off approx. 500 calories for a moderately
sized woman. This cannot be exact as
results would vary person to person as men’s metabolisms burn energy
faster, meaning they would have to work less hard. On the other hand it’s
comparatively easy to consume around 800 calories in say just a coffee and a
muffin. So for people who work out at
the gym and then feel they’ve maybe worked hard, so have earned a little treat they are probably not
only completely reversing the effect of the workout session but also piling on
additional excess calories. We know that
if we consume fewer calories than we expend we’ll lose weight. But the quality of the weight we’re losing is
important too as we want to work efficiently enough to burn excess fat and
avoid burning up lean muscle tissue.
Should we discount exercise then in the battle of the bulge?
Assuredly not. It is so
important to keep active at all stages of life but particularly with the onset
of age because fitness brings so many benefits to good health but also to
wellbeing and maintaining flexibility.
Irrespective of what a person’s weight, regular exercise has proven time
and again that fitness gains help prevent many dangerous conditions and it’s
also clear that overweight people too can achieve a high standard of fitness.
So it's not just about being thin, it's definitely about staying active, being fit and keeping the metabolism revved up.
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