Is There A Connection Between Health, Fitness And Longevity?

Much has been reported regarding the negative effects of living an unhealthy lifestyle. The media regularly publishes studies and reports detailing the negative side-effects of being overweight, eating an unhealthy diet, or living a sedentary lifestyle. For this reason, most people are aware of the increased inherent risk of contracting a serious illness or disease.

Yet the more positive benefits of living an active, healthy lifestyle are often overlooked. Research has verified that increasing fitness levels even a small amount can have massive implications for improving overall health and well-being.

As a primary example of the long-term health benefits of increasing fitness levels, below are some of the more serious illnesses and conditions that could be alleviated:

- Heart disease
- Type II diabetes
- Stroke
- Pulmonary edema
- High blood pressure
- Asthma-related inflammation
- Respiratory diseases
- High cholesterol
- Bowel cancer
- Breast Cancer
- Ovarian Cancer
- Osteoarthritis
- Sleep apnea
- Depression and anxiety
- Infertility

Each of the illnesses and conditions listed above has the capacity to severely reduce the average life-span of a human being. However, researchers are aware that the ability to reduce the incidence of these illnesses and conditions occurring is within the reach of almost everyone.

Health-Related Chain of Events:

By improving fitness levels even marginally, the ramifications for your health are significant. Most people report feeling as though they have more energy throughout each day. The same people also reported that they felt far less fatigued and irritable in the morning, even after getting 8 hours sleep.

Instead, these people wake up feeling refreshed, happy, energetic and ready to set about their day. The reason behind this occurrence is the increase in blood circulatory efficiency that comes as a result of living a more active lifestyle. As blood circulation improves, oxygen is circulated throughout the body more effectively, which enhances and increases the function of major organs such as the heart, lungs, brain, liver and kidneys. This in turn has a positive effect on lowering blood pressure levels, which allows for far greater ability to handle stressful situations more effectively.

People who enjoy a moderate amount of physical activity in their daily routines often find that the incidence of depression and anxiety is also greatly reduced.

However, one positive effect that is often overlooked is the effect that an increase in fitness levels can have on self-esteem. As fitness levels increase, most people notice a natural side-effect that includes toning up the body and slimming down in some areas. This can help to look and feel better about your own body image.

The real medical reason behind this alteration is the increase in the metabolic rate that occurs by raising fitness levels. As the metabolism begins to run more efficiently, the human body is able to burn calories more effectively. It also begins to process and eliminate toxins from the body. This helps to reduce bloating and puffiness from water retention, but it can also give your skin a youthful, healthy glow.

The Connection between Fitness and Longevity:

The vast majority of research conducted regarding health, fitness and longevity concludes that people living a sedentary lifestyle often fall victim to an array of serious illnesses, conditions or diseases that can dramatically reduce their lifespan.

This leads most people to instantly think of hours of red-faced, sweaty grueling training sessions in the gym in order to 'get fit' and become skinny.

Yet, research conducted at the University of South Carolina in Columbia proved conclusively that body fat had nothing to do with the longevity results in the people they monitored during their studies.

The only measure that accurately determined who was more likely to outlive someone else was fitness levels. Improving cardiac fitness was the key denominator in those who remained healthy and well past the age of 60. The official result of that particular study showed that the death rates for those people with greater fitness levels were less than 50% as compared to those people who had poor fitness levels.

The conclusion of this study was that researchers now believe it is very possible to reduce the incidence of premature death rates in all adults by increasing the level of daily physical activity people receive.