Add 6 Years To Your Life by Jogging

Time. I haven’t met anyone who would like some more time. Even if we could get some of AT&T’s rollover minutes to apply to more of life than just our mobile minutes … we want more time.

Well…a study spanning 35 years found a way to add 6 years to your life by jogging.

How’d you like that kind of time?

Dr. Peter Schnohr recently presented the latest findings from the Copenhagen City Heart study. The latest data links regular jogging to increases in life expectancy of 6.2 years for men and 5.6 years for women.

But don’t sign up for that marathon, yet. The study identified a u-shape curve representing the relationship between the amount of exercise and mortality. Doing nothing is bad and doing too much is also bad.

Over the 35 year study they found that the optimum benefits occurred with exercise durations between one hour and two and a half hours a week split between two or three sessions.

“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.The ideal pace can be achieved by striving to feel a little breathless. “You should aim to feel a little breathless, but not very breathless,” he advised.

So if you want more time, get off the couch and jog. Add some moderate exercise regularly to your life and you could be adding 6 years to your life.

Reference

• European Society of Cardiology
• Joggers Live Longer, Possibly Happier, Lives
• Long-term physical activity in leisure time and mortality from coronary heart disease, stroke, respiratory diseases, and cancer. The Copenhagen City Heart Study