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A review study has found that maintaining fitness helps us achieve a higher quality and longer life.  People with high levels of physical fitness, called cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) are at less risk of dying from all causes of death, including coronary heart disease and cardiovascular disease than people with low levels of CRF.  CRF is measured in metabolic equivalent (MET) units; less than 7.9 METs is classified as low CRF, 7.9-10.8 as intermediate, and greater than 10.8 as high CRF.  Maintaining an adequate CRF of 7.9 METs or greater may help to prevent mortality from heart-related diseases.  For women, this means being capable of continuous walking at a speed of 3 m.p.h., which can be measured using an exercise tolerance test.  The study found that raising your fitness level by only 1 MET was associated with a 15% decrease in risk of coronary heart disease and cardiovascular disease.

SOURCE: Journal of the American Medical Association, news release, May 19, 2009