To Your Health
January, 2025 (Vol. 19, Issue 01) |
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Fitness or Weight for Heart Health?
By Editorial Staff
When it comes to heart health, it's established that maintaining a healthy weight and cardiorespiratory fitness are both valuable – but is one better than the other? According to research, your weight may not be as important as how fit you are.
A review of 20 studies involving nearly 400,000 adults from multiple countries has found that cardiorespiratory fitness predicts cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality better than body-mass index (BMI). The research team analyzing the studies concluded that while fit individuals had similar risks across all BMI categories, unfit individuals with higher-than-average BMI had a significantly higher risk of all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality vs. normal-weight fit individuals.
What's more, even obese individuals who were cardiovascularly fit had a significantly lower risk of death compared to normal-weight individuals who were not cardiovascularly fit. In most of the studies analyzed, cardiovascular fitness was assessed via stress tests (estimated or directly measured V02max) and defined by scores above the 20th percentile within each participant's age group.
The great takeaway from this research is that in the majority of cases, the way in which you become cardio fit is usually a key piece of the weight-loss puzzle, too. So if you're trying to lose weight, keep working on your cardiovascular fitness (aerobic exercise, interval training, stair climbing – basically anything that makes your heart work). It's a win-win for your heart health and overall wellness.
