A recent Men’s Health article suggests people should be focusing on fitness, not body weight, if they want to improve their health.

Is that the best plan?

Let’s dig into the article and find out!

Cardiorespiratory Fitness Reduces Risk of Disease

If you want to check out the article, it’s here: “Fitness, Not Weight, Is the Best Marker of Health, Finds New Study.”

The quick summary: A study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine reviewed 20 articles and found that “cardiorespiratory fitness is a strong predictor of cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality and attenuates risks associated with overweight and obesity.”

That means people who improve cardiovascular fitness can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease even if they remain overweight.

The Men’s Health article suggested the “arbitrary goal of weight loss” is less important than moving more.

Here’s a quote: “Being fit is protective against cardiovascular disease and dying, regardless of your body weight and BMI.”

This is good news if you have ever struggled with your weight. In simple terms, all is not lost if you improve your cardio but can’t hit a precise weight goal you have in mind.

You’re still winning!

That, of course, doesn’t mean a weight goal you’ve set isn’t important. It just means that you will still reap huge rewards from exercise even if the number on the scale doesn’t change as fast as you want it to. Don’t quit working out!

Here are two important notes related to this study:

1. Cardiovascular fitness is just one part of overall fitness.We’ve found that focusing on overall fitness helps more people accomplish all their goals—especially weight-loss goals.We most definitely help people improve cardiorespiratory fitness, but we also focus on strength, speed, power, endurance, stamina, flexibility, balance and so on. This holistic approach—which includes healthy eating habits—has incredible effects on mental health, self-esteem, quality of life and key health metrics, including weight.Improving your “cardio” is great, but don’t neglect the other aspects of fitness. If you work with a coach to improve overall fitness, you’ll reap even greater rewards than you will if you just “do cardio.”
2. General movement is great, but it isn’t specific training.Don’t misunderstand: You should move more, especially if you’ve struggled with activity in the past. Every step is literally progress in the right direction.But to improve and optimize cardiovascular fitness, you need a plan beyond “walk for 20 minutes once a day.” Experienced coaches understand the science behind cardiovascular training and can tell you exactly what to do, why you should do it, when you should do it and when you will see progress.A plan that’s tailored to you and your goals will produce results much faster than general movement.Again, start with simple movement if that’s a good first step for you, but when you get momentum and want to make even swifter progress, it’s time to tailor your training plan.Bring in an expert!

Need Help?

Improving fitness and losing weight can be intimidating. Many people get confused or frustrated and give up.

If you don’t see a clear path to your goals right now, we can help.

Our expert coaches would be happy to meet with you to talk about your goals, whether they involve weight loss, improved cardiovascular fitness, greater strength or something else.

We’ll find out where you’re at and where you want to go, then tell you how to get there as quickly as possible.

To book a free consultation, click here!