CAN YOU BE FAT BUT FIT?
In this battle between little and large, we reveal if a lean build is really all that counts
Neither the deskbound beanpole nor chunky five-a-side maestro will make a convincing gladiator, but there’s a winner in this duel. Well, a lesser loser, anyway.
“Being fat and active has a slight edge,” says Dr Daniel Bailey, senior lecturer in health and exercise sciences at Brunel University. “Neither body type is ideal, but exercise makes you live longer and less likely to develop cancer or have a heart attack, regardless of weight.”
Essentially, being able to squeeze into skinny jeans counts for little if you spend all your time sitting in them. Avoid exercise and slump in front of a screen for more than 10 hours per day, and you’ll raise your heart attack risk by a whopping 112%, plus your overall chance of early death by half, according to a study by the University of Leicester.
Fat comes with some heavy caveats, though. Regular trips to the gym won’t entirely offset your risk of disease if you are consistently in a calorie surplus. Researchers at the British Heart Foundation caution that a waistline measuring over 35in can signify a higher incidence of disease-triggering visceral fat – the blubber that cakes your internal organs, including, vitally, your heart.
If you’re at risk of falling into either camp, Mike, there’s a simple test to assess the health risk: 10 press-ups. Research from Harvard predicts that if you can’t beat this basic benchmark, you could suffer a major health incident within the next decade. But it’s not inevitable. Work up your rep count to 40 and you’ll slash your heart attack risk by 97%. It’s a simple goal that everyone can aim for, no matter their waistline.