Cardio fitness and training

keep fit for a healthy heart

Cardio-respiratory fitness in early adulthood significantly decreases the chance of developing high blood pressure and diabetes — both major risk factors for heart disease and stroke — in middle age, according to a new study supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health.

 Fitness also reduces the risk for the metabolic syndrome, a constellation of factors that includes excess abdominal fat, elevated blood pressure and triglycerides, and low levels of the high-density lipoprotein, the “good” cholesterol.

Further, improving fitness in healthy young adults can cut by as much as 50 percent the risk for diabetes and the metabolic syndrome.

The research is the first, large observational study to look at the role of fitness on healthy young adults’ development of risk factors for heart disease. Prior studies had examined the relationship between fitness and death from heart disease and stroke.

“This study underscores the importance of both fitness and maintaining a healthy weight in the fight against heart disease and stroke and their risk factors,” said NHLBI Acting Director Dr. Barbara Alving. “Americans need to become physically active early in life and continue to be active as they age in order to remain as healthy as possible.”