Running isn’t for everybody, but maybe more people will take up the wonderful activity after learning how little they have to do in order to benefit from the exercise.
According to a comprehensive analysis of available evidence, a collection of researchers from all over the globe found evidence that suggests any amount of running can significantly lower your risk of death from any cause. Moreover, researchers said that you don’t even need to run very fast. Even relatively short runs at slower paces significantly lower a person’s all-cause mortality rate.
Running Study
For their research, the team looked at a variety of published research, doctoral dissertations and conference presentations on the benefits of running and how it affected mortality rates. Overall, they reviewed 14 studies that involved more than 232,000 people who had their health tracked between 5.5 and 35 years.
After looking at the data, researchers determined that any amount of running was associated with a 27 percent reduced risk of death from all causes compared to those participants who never reported running. The findings held true regardless of gender, and researchers found that any amount of running was associated with a 30 percent reduced risk of dying due to heart disease and a 23 percent reduced risk of dying to a cancer-related death.
The most interesting finding came when looking at running duration and speed needed to achieve these reduced risk. Researchers found that even runners who went for a less than 50-minute jog once every week or two at an average speed of less than 6 miles per hour still showed significant health and longevity marks compared to a control population of non-runners.
“Increased rates of participation in running, regardless of its dose, would probably lead to substantial improvements in population health and longevity,” the study concluded.
The findings are great because many people can’t carve out and hour or two every night to get their exercise in. However, if you can find 45 minutes a couple times a week, you can greatly reduce your risk of death to cancer or heart disease. This is great news for those of us who punch the clock for more than 40 hours a week or have numerous family commitments every night of the week. Finding just a little time to go for a run, even at a slow pace, can do wonders for your health.