I was having a meal with friends, one is a doctor, the other is a PE teacher, and somehow we ended up talking about fitness.

The doctor said something that completely threw me off. He said the purpose of working out is to die faster and more decisively.

I found this idea particularly mind-blowing and asked him why he would say that.

He said we've all been conditioned by the idea that fitness leads to longevity.

In reality, everyone's body might be hiding some illnesses that even medical checkups can't detect,

like heart disease. Working out can't help you get rid of these issues at all; it just makes you suffer less when the illness strikes, letting you go more cleanly.

He gave me a particularly poignant example. He said for the same hidden illness, a non-exerciser who has an attack might not necessarily die,

but it will definitely wreck their body, leaving them bedridden, in pain all over, relying on their children for care, surviving with poor quality for ten or eight years, and finally passing away in agony.

It's different for people who work out. They have better cardiopulmonary function and more agile physical reactions. When the illness strikes, there's basically no buffer period.

Clinical data shows many sudden deaths among fitness enthusiasts have reasons, often hidden heart conditions.

One second they're exercising, the next second they're gone, no pain, no struggle. That's what the doctor meant by dying faster and more decisively.

Starting this week, I need to work out seriously, otherwise I'm really afraid of dying with poor quality.