“The results of our research allow us to definitively answer the question of whether jogging is good for your health,” Peter Schnohr, chief cardiologist of the long-term Copenhagen City Heart Study, said in a news release from the European Society of Cardiology.
“We can say with certainty that regular jogging increases longevity. The good news is that you don’t need to do that much to reap the benefits.”
Joggers Live Longer
“The results of our research allow us to definitively answer the question of whether jogging is good for your health,” Peter Schnohr, chief cardiologist of the long-term Copenhagen City Heart Study, said in a news release from the European Society of Cardiology. “We can say with certainty that regular jogging increases longevity. The good news is that you don’t need to do that much to reap the benefits.”
In conducting the study, the researchers compared the mortality of joggers and non-joggers who participated in the population study of 20,000 people aged 20 to 93 that began in 1976. In their comparison, they asked 1,116 male and 762 female joggers about their jogging routine, including how fast and long they jogged weekly.
“With participants having such a wide age span, we felt that a subjective scale of intensity was the most appropriate approach,” explained Schnohr, who is based at Bispebjerg University Hospital in Copenhagen.
In the follow-up period of up to 35 years, the study found that 10,158 non-joggers and 122 joggers died. The researchers noted this was a 44 percent drop in the risk of death for male and female joggers.
The researchers found that male joggers can extend their life by 6.2 years and women by 5.6 years.
Jogging slowly for one to two and a half hours weekly provided the most significant benefits.
“You should aim to feel a little breathless but not very breathless,” said Schnohr. “The relationship appears much like alcohol intake. Mortality is lower in people reporting moderate jogging than in non-joggers or those undertaking extreme levels of exercise.”
“The study’s authors noted there are several health benefits of jogging that contribute to increased life expectancy, including improvements in:
The improved psychological well-being may be because people have more social interactions when jogging, explained Schnohr.
SOURCE: Joggers Live Longer, Study Says – Mary Elizabeth Dallas
