Fitness Friday

To Improve Health, Getting a Gym Membership May be the Only Way

According to a new study, joining a gym may be the only way to keep that New Year's Resolution

Researchers at Iowa State University have conducted a study which has concluded that people who hold gym memberships are much more likely to have much healthier cardiovascular outcomes. Gym members are 14 times more likely to be aerobically active than non-members, and are 10 times more likely to meet strength conditioning recommendations than non-members as well. This is promising results for those who are gym members, and inspiring news for those who are not members and are looking for new ways to lose weight and get in shape. 

The study also found that those who belonged to gyms logged 180 more minutes on average than the recommended 120 minutes of exercise allotted by health organizations. Gym members also had the following:

• Lower odds of being obese
• 1.5 inches smaller waist circumference
• 5 beats lower average resting heart rate
• Higher cardio-respiratory fitness

This news is even more promising as a nation, due to the fact that cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the US. The only problem is that only 18% of Americans belong to a gym, or subscribe to a gym membership. Due to this promising data, but lack of gym memberships, lawmakers are looking at tax deductible fitness options such as the PHIT Act.