To Run Or Not To Run?

A recent study suggests that joggers who exercise strenuously have the same life expectancy as people who barely exercise.

17:11 09 April 2015

Hardcore runners may not be happy to hear that their life expectancy is the same as those people who barely exercise. According to BBC, “training very hard is as bad as no exercise as all” while Daily Telegraph said that “fast running is as deadly as sitting on couch.” 

 

The findings were made based on the results of a large Danish study that followed the life of more than 1,000 healthy joggers and almost 4,000 healthy non-joggers for over 12 years. Based on the study, which was published in the prestigious Journal of the American College of Cardiology, light and moderate joggers live longer than average people who have sedentary lifestyle and don’t exercise at all. However, hardcore joggers, or those who run at a fast pace – more than 7mph for more than four hours per week, have the same life expectancy as those people who barely exercise. 

 

Although the study was participated by thousands of people, there were only 36 participants who fitted the strenuous jogging category – two of them had died. 

Because of this, critics say that the numbers are too small to be statistically significant.