Jogging Linked With Increased Life Expectancy, Study Shows

Going for regular jogs could help you to live longer, according to a new study.

Researchers from the Copenhagen City Heart Study found that regular jogging adds years onto the life expectancies of both men and women.

The optimal amount of jogging seems to be be one to two-and-a-half hours per week, spread out between two or three jogging sessions, the researchers found. The study was presented at the EuroPRevent2012 meeting in Ireland.

"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 Copenhagen City Heart Study, said at the event, according to a statement. "We can say with certainty that regular jogging increases longevity. The good news is that you don't actually need to do that much to reap the benefits."

The study drew from data from the Copenhagen City Heart Study, which started in 1976 and includes data from 20,000 men and women ages 20 to 93. This particular study used data from 1,116 males and 762 females, all of whom were joggers. These joggers were compared with non-joggers for the study, and were asked about their jogging intensity/speed and the time they spent jogging each week.

Over a 35-year period, researchers found that 10,158 non-joggers and 122 joggers died. Jogging was linked with an added 6.2 years onto the life expectancies for men and 5.6 years onto the life expectancies for women, according to the study.

Think jogging is way harder than just brisk walking? Think again -- a previous study conducted by North Carolina State researchers showed that a calf muscle vital to movement is actually able to work more efficiently when a person is jogging, compared to walking briskly.

Also on HuffPost:

From our partners

• Cancer: An American History (INFOGRAPHIC) - Everyday Health
• 39 Deliciously Unexpected Healthy Avocado Recipes - Greatist
• 8 Great Running Apps To Help You Train For Your Next Race - Shape Magazine

Comments

[dopplerthesexybeast]

02:39 PM on 05/07/2012

I can't help but facepalm when people complain about jogging being damaging to the joints. You're either jogging too much or jogging improperly. High-impact exercises, like jogging, stimulate the production and reinforcement of bone tissue; it is for this reason that Muay Thai fighters are known to spend several hours a day rolling large sticks up and down their shins or repeatedly smacking themselves in the shins with hard objects. How else do you think they make those devastating kicks without breaking their legs? X-rays performed have demonstrated a higher bone density and thicker bones in these athletes as opposed to the general population. Even examining the skeletons of, say, cobblers (shoe makers) from the pre-industrial era, you can see thicker bone growth in their thighs. Why? Because they tended to balance their shoes on their thighs while hammering.

The bottom line is that high-impact exercise increases bone mass, which can be a major concern as we grow older. There is a point where it goes too far, but jogging in general is a great form of exercise. In terms of calorie burn, swimming is also excellent, but I would like to point out that swimming is NOT high-impact and will do nothing for your bone density. I'd wager that a good workout would alternate high-impact and low-impact activities. Your bones NEED the stimulation.

[odra]

02:46 PM on 05/10/2012

That is what she said

[johnnydajogger]

01:50 PM on 05/07/2012

This article about the study left out the following very important comments for serious joggers:

"Further analysis exploring the amounts of exercise undertaken by joggers in the study has revealed a U-shaped curve for the relationship between the time spent exercising and mortality. The investigators found that between one hour and two and a half hours a week, undertaken over two to three sessions, delivered the optimum benefits, especially when performed at a slow or average pace.
“The relationship appears much like alcohol intakes. Mortality is lower in people reporting moderate jogging, than in non-joggers or those undertaking extreme levels of exercise,” said Schnohr."

So, if I'm jogging for more than 2.5 hours/week my mortality risk will increase as it does with excess alcohol consumption?

[RhiannonRings]

04:27 PM on 05/06/2012

Man, since I'm living with perimenopause, intense grief from a major loss, fibromyalgia, weight gain, arthritis, etc., I think I'm doing pretty good just walking 1/2 an hour 4 or 5 days a week, let alone jogging!

[yummypumpkin]

01:09 PM on 05/08/2012

Keep up the good work! Sorry about the difficulties you are experiencing. Walking briskly is an excellent activity with many of the benefits of jogging. In fact, just getting out in any way you can will do the body good!

[RhiannonRings]

01:46 PM on 05/08/2012

Thanks :)

[Teresiya Sigmund]

07:54 PM on 05/05/2012

WRONG! You do not live longer, it just feeeels like you do, because you will be in so much paaaain, agonizing pain, because your joints are shot and you wished you were dead. It's more like the upside down version of what the article claims. If you do fast walking, great. But if you truly like to do your body a favour, swim, swim, swim , swim like a fish. What I hate about swimming is getting into the cold pool. Gross.

[goldy67]

07:49 PM on 05/05/2012

As a main form of exercise, jogging is actually very inefficient. It is a nice supplement, though. I tend to go for a jog for pure enjoyment once in awhile. I prefer to do bodyweight strength building exercises and martial arts for my main workout. I can't imagine there is anything specific about jogging that prolongs life, as opposed to exercise in general. The study did not state what they compared jogging to.

[bmitche]

05:40 PM on 05/05/2012

The jogging trail will be crowded tomorrow. LOL

[Harold Evans]

03:15 PM on 05/05/2012

This article is confusing. Who were the controls? It sounds as if people who jogged were merely compared to a group of people who didn't, specifically, jog. If that's the case things like smoking and diet, or presence of people too ill to jog in the other group, weren't controlled for.

One thing this research certainly did not seem to do, at least as reported here, was compare jogging to other forms of exercise. It compared joggers, as far as I can tell, to the entire group of non-joggers.

Still, despite the confusion, I am surprised that anyone finds this "surprising". If you compare a group of people, all of whom exercise, with another group, at least some of whom don't exercise, you would expect to see health benefits from exercise. That's well established. You'd expect that even if you compared two groups of healthy non-smokers who watched their diets. You'd really, really, really expect it if the non-jogging group wasn't a matched control group, and had relatively more people with other unhealthy habits like smoking etc..

[lovepumpkin]

12:26 PM on 05/05/2012

i also think the endorphins released from a nice jog outside have something to do with it.

sometimes it just feels good to run!

[Curlee]

12:01 PM on 05/05/2012

I think as with most things, moderation is key as this article suggests. Those questioning the harm on joints likely have no concern if you jog regularly but in moderation, unless you have preexisting conditions making you prone to premature joint damage.

The human body is a machine. You must keep it moving to keep all the parts functioning properly. Similarly, you can not constantly push it too hard without expecting it to be repaired or breaking down completely sooner than you expected.

[American Subversive]

11:35 AM on 05/05/2012

If only it didn't keep_screwing up my shin splints :(.

[hughsie2]

10:54 AM on 05/05/2012

Jogging is very hard on the knees, hips and back the benefits to the heart need to weighed against the negatives to the joints. It's no good to live 5 years longer if you are in constant pain!

[2Paco]

11:09 AM on 05/05/2012

Actually that is not true. Research shows that running actually increases the strength of the joints.

[auditor0007]

12:44 PM on 05/05/2012

Based on my own experience, I tend to believe this. I stopped smoking last year and began running. For the first four months, I had terrible knee pain. It was so bad that I could only run for one or two days per week. The other days I did a cardio workout on an ARC Trainer. During the winter months I did not want to run outside, so I just concentrated on the ARC trainer. When it began to warm up, I started running outside again. No more knee pain; however, now I am dealing with just plain out muscle pain, but I'm sure I will be able to work through that soon enough.

[onepartysystem]

10:03 AM on 05/05/2012

I can report that from my experience, running isn't for everyone.

I was a competitive runner when I was young who was and still is fortunate to have a very economical stride and way of running. I don't pound when I run, I sort of glide (still gliding at the ripe old age of 56!) In my not-so-humble opinion, you won't find very many joggers who can run as easily and effortlessly as I do.

But I have to be VERY careful about not getting injured because, even for a very good and very experienced runner, running is hard on the body. Especially as you get older. Especially if you are overweight. Especially if you haven't run since gym class in the early 1970s.

Most folks should just walk, in my opinion. Or ride a bike. Those activities don't break down the body the way running does. Running is a great form of exercise for those that are able to run, but for non-runners and poor runners it will cause more problems than it solves.

[Sashaukky]

01:11 PM on 05/05/2012

CROSS COUNTRY SKIING IS WONDERFUL WORKOUT AND WONT HARM JOINTS. Using a treadmill or eliptical....the health benefits come from sweating and breathing hard and deeply. In yoga or meditation you're taught to breath deeply...they say 10 deep breaths a day keep the doctors away. If you sweat hard make sure to rehydrate or you can dehydrate and die if you have a heart or kidney problem that neither you nor your doctor know about. I landed in the hospital in shock and had a slight hard attack just by being slightly dyhydrated. I don't like some of these studies. The reason this study came out so positive is that these people were able to run without any health problems.

[eva07]

02:15 AM on 05/06/2012

How do you glide?

[keedyk87]

09:18 AM on 05/05/2012

No mention of what it does to Knee, Hip or Ankle joints though. The Human Heart needs work beyond what just being awake and casual activity bring and for many Physically beneficial reasons. Maybe this particular Leg or Calf muscle can be worked in a different way then Jogging which is so hard on those Joints I mentioned!

[onepartysystem]

09:37 AM on 05/05/2012

Depends on how your good your gait is.

[2Paco]

11:14 AM on 05/05/2012

Depends on mechanics. If you pronate or you have genu Valium or varum (knock knees or bull legged) best to find another sport. However blanket statements about it being bad for you is just wrong. Current research suggests otherwise.

And people who make those comments have probably never run.

[Infiniti]

12:50 AM on 05/05/2012

I’ve been running/jogging since HS back in 1977. My knees are fine and I’ve not had any major injuries. I got into racing in the mid 80’s with 5k, 10k, half marathons and then marathons. Starting in the mid 90’s I developed asthma from a bad work environment. 10 years ago, I bought a treadmill and now jog 4 miles - 3x a week. It takes over an hour because I have to pause after each minute to catch my breath.

Jogging, obviously, isn’t for everyone. Your body type, motivation, lifestyle and genetic predisposition determine whether this is the sport for you. It’s certainly not something you decide to do one day because you’ve read a positive jogging study. Like anything in life, if you derive pleasure from the endorphin rush or have a partner to share quiet time together, and then enjoy it for what it's worth.

A running friend of mine has been running since the early 70’s. He says it’s like brushing your teeth. You do it without thinking about it. It becomes part of your lifestyle and you feel guilty if you skip it.

I think most doctors would say exercise at least 3x a week and watch your diet. Jogging may change some people’s lives for the better, but there are many other activities one can choose to get the heart beating and blood pumping while having fun.

[Wallace Byers]

11:45 AM on 05/06/2012

Yes its not for everyone but for me running is a life style it releases endorphines, feel younger and refreshed. No activity decreases the muscles, tendons and all areas of your body.

[VegShark]

04:10 PM on 05/06/2012

Its nice to hear some positive comments! I wouldn't exactly call myself a runner, but I do enjoy it. I am slowly getting back into now, but all these people's comments are so discouraging. It doesn't feel particularly hard on my joints, and I have a bum ankle.

[Magicbot]

12:32 AM on 05/05/2012

I practice "conservation of energy" for my health. Although, I haven't quite figured whether it works or not.