A comprehensive analysis of the available evidence was carried out by researchers from Thailand, Finland, Austria, and Australia who were motivated to conduct this study due to the amount of unknowns that remain in reference to running and it’s benefits on health such as it not being clear how effective running is at preventing cardiovascular disease or cancer, and how much amount of time running is required to be of benefit.
According to the team of researchers if more people incorporated a little running/jogging into their daily routines the global population would experience significant improvements to overall health and longevity; they stresses people don’t even have to run/jog particularly far the important part is simply engaging in the act.
The researchers conducted a review of any available and relevant published research, conference presentations, and doctoral dissertations specifically looking for those that investigated associations between running/jogging and the subsequent risk of mortality from all causes, cancer, or cardiovascular disease.
As published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine14 studies were included in the analysis involving 232,148 participants who had their health tracked for between 5.5 to 35 years; within that period of time 25,951 participants had died. After compiling all of the data it was revealed that any amount of running was associated with a 27% lower risk of death from all causes which held true for both genders; and any amount of running/jogging was also associated with a 30% decreased chance of dying from cardiovascular disease , as well as a 23% decreases risk of cancer related death.
Small doses of running were also found to induce significant health and longevity benefits; which was defined as a short jog of 50 minutes or less once every 1-2 weeks at a slow speed of less than 6 miles per hour.
According to the team of researchers their findings suggest that running is a good fitness option for those who may not have enough time to get in a full workout on most days; and it was noted that running more often or at a more intense pace was not found to increase benefits or further decrease risk of death.
The researchers also caution that this study was observational and is not able to establish causation, and it was limited by the small amount of studies included in the analysis, all with different methodologies which may have skewed their results. Regardless, their findings still provide some evidence that it is a good idea to go out for an occasional jog “Increased rates of participation in running, regardless of its dose, would probably lead to substantial improvements in population health and longevity,” the study concludes.
