Study findings indicate that the benefits of midlife cardiorespiratory fitness extend well into the later part of life.
“The benefits of cardiorespiratory fitness extended well into the later part of life for employed, middle-aged men without cardiovascular disease, and were significantly related to longevity over 4 decades, according to a study published in Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
A team of Danish researchers sought to investigate the associations between cardiorespiratory fitness and very long-term prognosis in a study with 46 years of follow up. Study participants were middle-aged, employed men without cardiovascular disease from the Copenhagen Male Study (N=5107; mean age, 48.8±5.4 years). Participants were stratified into 4 age-adjusted VO2max (maximal oxygen consumption) categories: above upper limit of normal (5%), high normal (45%), low normal (45%), and below lower limit of normal (5%). VO2Max levels were estimated using a bicycle ergometer, and restricted, multivariable, mean survival time models of cardiovascular and all-cause mortality were performed using Danish national registers.”
Are you using a standing desk to improve wellness and longevity. It turns out that switching to a standing desk isn’t a silver bullet…
“A standing desk is not an automatic ticket to better health. As Joan Vernikos, author of Sitting Kills and a former NASA Life Sciences director, discovered in her research on the stresses imposed by microgravity environments, uninterrupted standing can be as bad as sitting. Ideally, you’d switch between the two…
The simplest thing you can do is place a footrest under your desk where you can prop one leg while you stand. Vernikos recommends switching legs often, because ‘”the body needs stimulation through a change signal.'”
So simply using a standing desk isn’t the solution to the body’s inactivity during that stationary work. One must become active periodically no matter if one is sitting in a chair or standing at a desk.
