TweetCan You Be Both Fat and Fit?

A typical assumption is that fitness is based on body weight and that if you're thin, you must be both fit and healthy. Though that may be a common belief, it's not necessarily true. If you’re overweight, yet follow an exercise plan to reach fitness goals, you may be healthier than a thin person who never works out.


Without doubt, maintaining a healthy body weight is vital to your health, and being overweight increases your risk for many serious health problems. But experts are exploring the possibility of being fit despite being overweight — and it turns out that body weight and BMI (body mass index) aren't always the best predictors of fitness levels. In general, studies found that cardiovascular fitness was a better indicator of overall health than weight. In one study, fit, overweight people had a lower risk of death during eight years of follow-up than thin, unfit people.

Fitness and BMI: You Can't Shed the Risks
Though it is "possible to mitigate the effects of obesity through regular exercise," says Adam Gilden Tsai, MD, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Colorado Denver, that doesn't mean you can be completely healthy.
Studies have found that even among fit and fat people, the more overweight you are, the greater your risk of death than people who are less overweight. But exercise certainly helps. "Being physically fit probably protects a person against heart disease and stroke almost as much or as much as does maintaining a healthy weight," says Dr. Tsai. Weight doesn't always equate to health or fitness, adds Jonathan Q. Purnell, MD, associate professor at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland.
"The best data that we have suggests that exercise can help particularly with prevention of chronic diseases and can certainly improve one's cardiovascular health, too," says Dr. Purnell. Exercise has great benefit in reducing the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease, which is very important for people to understand when they're struggling to lose weight. Even if you don’t meet your ultimate weight-loss goal, says Purnell, you're still helping your health and fitness levels.


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"Even small amounts of weight loss associated with regular aerobic activity can be associated with significant benefits when it comes to health," continues Purnell.

Fitness and BMI: Can Bigger Be Better?
"Some research suggests that weighing a bit more may actually be beneficial to health," says Erin Palinski, RD, a registered dietitian in private practice in N.J. "Carrying a few extra pounds can actually decrease the risk of osteoporosis, since the extra weight helps to stress the bones, helping to increase bone density."
Being underweight can actually have disadvantages, like increasing mortality risk as you age. "Older adults who carry a few extra pounds have been shown to have a decreased mortality [rate] than underweight individuals the same age," notes Palinski.
Palinski isn't denying the very real health risks associated with obesity, but says that the risks aren't uniform across all people who are overweight.

Fitness and BMI: Measuring Your Fitness
"There are many ways to measure physical fitness," says Tsai. Here are some simple ways to determine your fitness level:
Climb stairs at home. A basic test is seeing if you can climb two or three flights of stairs without stopping.
Time your workout. A good measure of fitness is if you can exercise comfortably for 30 to 60 minutes, the current recommendations for regular physical activity, says Purnell.
Monitor your heart rate. "The more in shape you are, the lower your resting heart rate will be,” says Palinski. “If your heart rate elevates above the target heart rate zone after only walking for five minutes, you may have poor cardiovascular fitness levels. If it takes 10 to 15 minutes before you reach this heart rate level, you may have good cardiovascular fitness."
Schedule a treadmill test. Treadmill tests, performed in a medical setting, are a more sophisticated method of determining cardiovascular fitness, notes Tsai.
Exercise is essential for good health. "Regardless of weight, it is important to work on staying fit and healthy,” Palinski says. If you’re unsure of how to begin a fitness plan, talk to your health care provider

TweetA lot of Japanese sumo wrestlers are. I saw a show on them. The way they eat and train they develop all their fat on the outside of their bodies and not internally around their organs like most people.