A multinational study carried out by researchers in Australia, Thailand, Austria and Finland, shows that any amount of running appears to lower the risk of death from all causes for both men and women by 27 per cent.
Researchers tracked the health of a total of 232,149 people between 5.5 and 35-years old. Data was tracked to investigate the association between running/jogging and the risk of death from all causes, cardiovascular disease and cancer.
The findings have just been published online in the ‘British Journal of Sports Medicine’, which says those who lace up just once a week significantly help lower an individual’s risk of death when compared to non-runners.
Even the smallest dose of running was associated with a 30 per cent lower risk of death from cardiovascular diseases, and a 23 per cent lower risk of death from cancer.
According to researchers, to gain the benefits, all you need to do is run just once a week for less than 50 minutes, at a speed of less than 8kph.
While the researchers are still figuring out how much running a person needs to do to reduce their mortality risk, they also found no evidence to suggest that increasing the frequency, duration or pace of the run brought any additional benefits.
While the study makes clear that this was observational, and so no cause and effect can be established. Researchers also point out that any amount of running is better than no running, saying “Increased rates of participation in running, regardless of its dose, would probably lead to substantial improvements in population health and longevity.”
