The Importance of Exercise Capacity

Two new studies emphasize the importance of exercise capacity in determining the risk of early death.

The first study, published on January 22 in Circulation, followed 15,660 male veterans for 7 years after they completed baseline exercise treadmill tests. The investigators found that the all-cause risk of death among these men was directly related to the amount of exercise they could perform during that baseline test. The higher their exercise capacity, the lower their risk of death. Among among men with the greatest level of fitness, the risk of dying was reduced by 70%.

The second study appeared in the January 28 edition of the Archives of Internal Medicine. This study followed 9000 patients who had been referred for exercise stress testing because of the suspicion of heart disease. Investigators found that for patients whose exercise capacity was less than 85% of that predicted for patients of similar age and sex, the risk of nonfatal cardiac events (heart attack and the need for coronary artery revascularization), and of death from all causes, was significantly increased.

Both of these new studies emphasize how vital it is for all of us to maintain reasonable cardiovascular fitness. Inadequate fitness, which unfortunately is increasingly common among Americans today, is a critically important risk factor. And it's a risk factor over which most of us have complete control.

For anyone who wants to improve their exercise capacity, About.com can help. Check out our sites related to exercise, walking, running, and weight training.

Sources:

1) Kokkinos P, Myers J, Kokkinos JP, et al. Exercise capacity and mortality in black and white men. Circulation 2008; DOI: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.107.734764. Available on-line at http://circ.ahajournals.org.

2) Peterson PN, Magid DJ, Ross C, et al. Association of exercise capacity on treadmill with future cardiac events in patients referred for exercise testing. Arch Intern Med 2008; 168:174-179.