The longevity number your doctor can measure

If you want one number that says a great deal about how long and how well you are likely to live, ask about your cardiorespiratory fitness.

The study

Cleveland Clinic researchers looked back at 122,007 adults who had completed a treadmill exercise test between 1991 and 2014. The average age was 53. The findings were published in JAMA Network Open in 2018.

People were grouped by how well they performed for their age and sex, from low to elite. The team then followed survival, with a median follow-up of 8.4 years.

What they found

Risk of death fell with every step up in fitness.

Compared with the lowest performers, the elite group had an adjusted hazard ratio of 0.20. That is an 80 per cent lower risk over the follow-up period, after accounting for other factors.

The authors saw no upper limit to the benefit. And the advantage of elite over high fitness was most notable in older patients.

They also noted that low fitness carried risk comparable to, or greater than, traditional risk factors such as smoking and diabetes.

What this means for the rest of the series

We sell heat, cold and light. We will still say it plainly: training is the main lever.

Where recovery tools earn their place is in keeping you training. Sleeping well enough to show up. Managing soreness. Making the routine something you look forward to.

A 60-year-old who trains four days a week for the next twenty years is doing more for their healthspan than any device can.

A practical start

• Ask your GP about a fitness assessment, particularly if you are starting from a low base.
• Build aerobic work you can repeat: walking hills, cycling, swimming, rowing.
• Add some harder intervals once the base is there.
• Use the recovery you enjoy to make the week sustainable.

We are building Norge-01, our app, around this idea: your recovery connected to your training and the data from your wearable. More on that soon.

Free: The Norge Longevity Guide. Heat, cold and light after 50, with the evidence and the safety rules in one place. Get the guide.

Sources

1. Mandsager et al., Association of Cardiorespiratory Fitness With Long-term Mortality Among Adults Undergoing Exercise Treadmill Testing, JAMA Network Open, 2018
2. Cleveland Clinic via ScienceDaily, Better cardiorespiratory fitness leads to longer life

This article is general information, not medical advice. If you have a heart condition, low blood pressure or are pregnant, speak with your GP before using heat or cold.