Transcript
Can cardio help yuh live longer?
And by how much?
And what type is best?
What the Science?
I’m on Day 2 of my fitness journey, and even though I hate cardio I wanted to figure out exactly what the research says I should be doing. I chose longevity as a target because I’m not a professional athlete so I don’t need to optimize for performance.
→oi! LESS TALK MORE SCIENCE
Right. This 2018 study followed over 5,000 men for 46 years. One of the best metrics for cardiovascular health is called VO2 max- how much oxygen your body can take in and use during exercise, but it takes lots of lab equipment to measure. Back in 1970 they had middle-aged men get on an exercise bike and they used a cool technique from this paper to then estimate their VO2max. They compared that one number to mortality rates 46 years later. The results were amazing!
Those in the top 5% of VO2 max survived on average 5 years longer than the bottom 5%, with pretty continuous results in between.
And it’s not just this study. A meta-analysis of 33 studies found similar results.
Soo I’ll be trying to get into the “top 5% VO2max club.”
But what type of cardio will do this most efficiently? I’ll talk about that soon! Hit that follow, and join my Discord for the real fun!
References
Midlife Cardiorespiratory Fitness and the Long-Term Risk of Mortality: 46 Years of Follow-Up - 2018