You probably know that improving your cardio is good for your health. A recent study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that cardiorespiratory fitness was a better predictor of cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality than BMI (body mass index).
One of the study’s co-authors summarized it as: “Fitness, it turns out, is far more important than fatness when it comes to mortality risk. Our study found that obese fit individuals had a risk of death that was similar to that of normal weight fit individuals and close to one-half that of normal weight unfit individuals. Exercise is more than just a way to expend calories. It is excellent ‘medicine’ to optimize overall health and can largely reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and all-cause death for people of all sizes.”
Last year the American Medical Association recognized that BMI is an imperfect way to diagnose obesity, and that there are better measures, such as body composition. Like we get from an InBody scan. This recent study further highlights the shortcomings of BMI. After all, BMI is more or less just your weight divided by your height.
When you think of cardio, things like going for a jog, treadmills, and ellipticals probably come to mind. If you hate this kind of exercise, and find it boring, you’re not alone. Plus lots of long, slow cardio can reduce your muscle.
CrossFit is great if you hate boring cardio! Our cardio workouts almost always include some strength building, resistance training exercises. They’re also kept to a time range that won’t burn off muscle.
The workouts we use at CrossFit 781 build stamina, endurance, and strength. We can help you improve your cardio and body composition to be fitter, healthier, and live longer. And if you love running, CrossFit can make you better at that too.
If you’d like to lose weight, build muscle, increase your energy, and just feel better, click here. Let’s talk about it!
