Regular jogging extends life. This is the conclusion reached by a meta-analysis of 14 long-term studies. Even those who run very little perform significantly better than those who are completely inactive.
Physical activity is healthy and reduces stress. That is no secret. Accordingly, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity per week. Jogging is considered a classic form of aerobic exercise. "Aerobic" (from the Greek word for "air") means that you obtain the energy for your physical activity through oxygen from the air. In "anaerobic" training, on the other hand, the oxygen supply is not sufficient to meet your body's energy requirements.
Increased overall lifespan
The analysis published in the "British Journal of Sports Medicine" evaluated 14 studies that observed a total of over 230,000 participants over a period of 5.5 to 35 years. During this time, nearly 26,000 of the study participants died. The overall mortality rate of runners was 27 percent lower than that of non-runners. The risk of dying from cardiovascular diseases was shown to be reduced by 30 percent. Cancer mortality was at least 23 percent lower in runners.
Running a little is much better than nothing
Even participants who dedicated less than 50 minutes per week to jogging and moved at speeds slower than 6 miles per hour (9.6 km/h) performed significantly better than non-runners. They, too, benefited from endurance sports through a significantly lower overall mortality rate. The researchers found no indication that significantly greater jogging efforts would decisively increase this benefit. The conclusion of the meta-study is: regardless of the dose, the life expectancy of the population would rise significantly if more people could bring themselves to jog.
Regardless of that, and long life or not: sport makes you happy here and now.
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