Exercise-Loving Spouse can Have a Positive Impact on Your Fitness Level too

Are you trying to lose some weight and have a partner who loves exercising? Then don't look to hire a personal trainer, state-of-the-art gym or any weight-loss treatment. All you need to do is follow the footsteps of your exercise-loving partner and you will enhance your fitness levels! A new study has revealed that if one spouse improves his or her exercise regimen, the other spouse is much more likely to follow suit.

Researchers examined records from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study, which in 1987 began following a group of 15,792 middle-aged adults from communities in Maryland, North Carolina, Minnesota and Mississippi. They analyzed data from two medical visits conducted roughly six years apart. At every visit, the researchers asked 3,261 spouse pairs about their physical activity levels.

Six years later, they found that when a wife met recommended levels of exercise at the first visit, her husband was 70% more likely to meet those levels at subsequent visits than those whose wives were less physically active. Likewise, when a husband met recommended exercise levels, his wife was 40% more likely to meet the levels at follow-up visits.

Silvia Koton from the Tel Aviv University's Sackler Faculty of Medicine and co-author of this study said, "The study tells that spouses can have a positive impact on one another in terms of staying fit and healthy over time. Our findings suggest that physical activity promotion efforts should consider targeting couples."

The study was presented at the American Heart Association's 'EPI/Lifestyle 2015 Scientific Sessions' in Baltimore.

Source: Medindia