Exercise a Running Regimen and Extend Your Life

"We found that runners had a 3.2 years longer life expectancy, compared with non-runners. This notable finding confirms that running is more time-efficient and could therefore be a better choice for busy yet healthy individuals."
"Our study, with the largest sample size of over 55,000 adults, demonstrated no increased risk of all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality even in the highest running group [4.5 or more hours per week] compared to the light running group [fewer than 51 minutes per week]. This was consistent in men, women, young and old individuals and slow and fast runners."
"Running may be the most cost-effective lifestyle medicine from [a] public health perspective."
Running as a Key Lifestyle Medicine for Longevity report

Running drops a person’s risk of premature death by 25 to 40 percent Curtis Mac Newton/Unsplash

A group of American researchers from Harvard Medical School, Iowa State University, Hartford Hospital, University of South Carolina and University of Queensland School of Medicine collaborated on a research project to determine exactly how life-affirming and healthy a lifestyle activity running is for those who dedicate the time and energy to this recreational sport.

Their report, published in Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases, concluded that running results in the protection of the human body against the onset of cardiovascular disease and cancer, two of the leading causes of death in developed countries. Moreover, it is the activity of running, and running alone that appears to give these major health benefits. Running is not interchangeable with swimming or hiking/walking as an healthful exercise.

Truth told, any kind of actively energetic movement on a regular basis will result in improved health, so any such activity represents a boost to health, but none others result in the positive effects these researchers observed in studying the effects of lifestyle running. Sedentary lifestyles are held to be responsible for nine percent of all-cause mortality across the globe, after other leading risk factors for premature death:

1.  High blood pressure
2.  Smoking
3.  High blood glucose
4.  Sedentary lifestyle    

Runners experience a 25 to 40 percent reduced risk of premature mortality. Among runners who did no other type of exercise beyond running the risk of early death was reduced by 27 percent, as compared to a 12 percent reduction in mortality among those who engage in exercises other than running. Suggesting that running represents one of the more efficient means of preventing premature death.

Fifteen to 105 minutes of walking compares to the same mortality-reduction benefits achieved with five to 25 minutes of running. The research further indicated that longevity benefits are heightened for those who run throughout their lives. For each decade after the age of 30, participation in running appears to decline by five to ten percent. By the time runners reach the age of 65, fewer than two percent remain dedicated to it.

Some debate exists whether too much running can result in negative impacts on longevity; this research does not appear to uphold that hypothesis. Still, most experts feel that adding additional miles to a consistent running routine does not necessarily result in an attenuated life expectancy. This research focused on the effect running has on preventing premature death.

Other issues related to high running volumes which include overuse injuries should be considered before runners think of increasing their weekly mileage. A body of evidence exists as well, to prove that arthritis is less evident in runners than in the sedentary population, feeding into claims that running can be rough on knees.

In the final analysis, exercise of any variety reaps health benefits for people, in contrast to those who fail to exercise their bodies at all.

"Stopwatch" class