Increased exercise capacity greatly reduces the risk of death in men, according to the largest known study assessing the link between fitness and mortality.
The government-supported Veterans Affairs study included over 15,000 participants. Researchers divided the subjects into fitness categories based on their treadmill performance, expressed as peak metabolic equivalents (METs) achieved.
The study found that "highly fit" men had half the death risk of "low fit" men. Men at "very highly fit" levels had a 70 percent lower risk of death than "low fit" men.