RESEARCH ARTICLE s e e

the global burden of disease [1]. Pleasingly, the last decades we have experienced major advances in both pharmaco-tory fitness (CRF) being its two main components. CRF is a well-established predictor of future CVD morbidity [3], in-Timpka et al. BMC Medicine 2014, 12:62 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7015/12/62gain [10]. Currently, the World Health OrganizationFull list of author information is available at the end of the articlelogical and invasive treatments, which have greatly improved the prognosis for patients after a major cardiovascular dis-ease (CVD) event. However, primary and secondary preven-tion are still important, both to decrease the individual suffering as well as to decrease the societal burden. Import-ant cornerstones of the preventive framework include a balanced diet, no smoking and adequate levels of physical fluencing the development of disease as well as increasing the physiological margin if a CVD event occurs. With low muscle fitness being an established predictor of mortalit