Now you can give your clients another reason to exercise. A new study supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute found that cardiorespiratory fitness in early adulthood significantly decreases the chance of developing high blood pressure and diabetes—both major risk factors for heart disease and stroke—in middle age. Fitness also reduces the risk of metabolic syndrome, a constellation of factors that includes excess abdominal fat, elevated blood pressure and triglycerides, and low levels of high-density lipoprotein (the “good” cholesterol).