Chiropractic Orlando

“Close” isn’t exactly a word we affiliate with accomplishment. In point of fact, not many things in life, it seems, count much at all if you don’t “hit a grand slam.”  Luckily for some, this may not be entirely the case when it comes to an extended lifespan. As a chiropractor in Orlando, who has many older patients and who is also fully dedicated to encouraging my patients to exercise at every age level, I was very happy to read about the results of the following study.

Researchers found that of the “least-fit” versus the “slightly more fit” in a recent study of nearly 4,400 healthy Americans, roughly 20 percent with the lowest physical fitness levels were twice as likely to die over the nine years of the study as the 20 percent with the next-lowest fitness levels. (In other words, those 20 percent who were close to the lowest fitness levels.) This is the time-honored “bad news/good news” situation. It is undoubtedly bad news if you are a dyed-in-the-wool couch potato. But, it is definitely good news for those who haven’t entirely embraced a sedentary lifestyle but are not, by any means, “exertive.” Apparently, those people who continue to be just moderately fit as they grow older may live longer than those who are totally out-of-shape, the study suggests.

The study included 4,384 middle-aged and senior men and women whose fitness levels were assessed during exercise treadmill tests sometime between 1986 and 2006. For nearly nine years thereafter, the researchers pursued the study groups progress. Such factors as obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure were taken into consideration in the study. This, in and of itself, accentuates the significants of being physically fit. In an email to Reuters Health, Dr. Sandra Mandic, of the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand, and lead researcher of the study noted: “Our findings suggest that a sedentary lifestyle, rather than differences in cardiovascular risk factors or age, may explain the two-fold higher mortality rates in the least-fit versus slightly more fit individuals.”

Nearly two-thirds of the participants at the least-fit level failed to get at least 30 minutes of moderate activity, five or more days a week, which was the minimum recommended amount of exercise. “These results emphasize the importance of improving and maintaining high fitness levels by engaging in regular physical activity,” Mandic said, “particularly in poorly-fit individuals.”

After dividing the study group participants by fitness levels, the researchers determined that 13 percent of those who were in slightly better shape had died during the study period. But, 25 percent of the least-fit men and women had died during the same period. Only 6 percent of the most-fit group (i.e., the ones who “hit a grand slam,” so to speak) had died during the follow-up period.

The compelling finding was that overall, the five fitness-level groups showed little variance in their reported exercise habits over their adult lives, but where they varied was their activity levels in recent years. “Since it is recent physical activity that offers protection,” Mandic said, “it is important to maintain regular physical activity throughout life.”

And, naturally, imagine the health advantages we could all derive if we sought to achieve the higher levels of fitness.

SOURCE: Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, August 2009.

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