If your stubborn spare tire is dragging down your motivation, here’s some good news to keep you hitting the treadmill. A recent study has followed the fitness levels of 14,345 men using treadmill tests over six years. The result? It appears that regular exercise matters more than those extra 10 or 20 pounds when it comes down to length of life.
The U.S. study reveals a somewhat surprising reality, given that we’ve been conditioned to believe that anyone who can “pinch an inch” is in trouble. Contrary to this stubborn adage, that extra inch is not as important as you may think: after 11 years of follow-up, the group of men in the study who maintained or improved their fitness levels lived longeron average than the others, despite their inability to shed all their extra fat.
But wait, what about those factors that fall outside the confines of gym walls? We know that age, family history, changes in lifestyle factors and chronic or inherited medical conditions all have a role to play in overall health and longevity. The study claims to have accounted for those factors in the analysis, and since most of the men in the study were slightly overweight to begin with, they apparently started on an even playing field.
Although this study is generally good news, especially for those who worry their gym routine has been in vain, it’s also not really groundbreaking news. We’ve known for a long time that exercise is good for the body, and this study hasn’t done much to add to that knowledge. In fact, since one of the primary funders was Coca Cola, could this be a sneaky way to excuse poor eating habits and their role in health and longevity?
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