A new study concluded that for every hour spent running, one can increase their life expectancy.
A new study which was released in the Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases journal, claims that for every hour spent running, one can add seven hours to their life expectancy.
How Does Running Impact The Life Expectancy?
“[…] runners have a 25-40% reduced risk of premature mortality and live approximately three years longer than non-runners”.
The study was conducted on 55,137 adults aged 18 to 100. They were followed over a 15 year time period. The number of deaths registered across the population was counted. As such, the team found that those that ran had a 30% lower mortality risk. They also presented a 45% lower risk of cardiovascular-related deaths. This resulted in a life expectancy increase of seven hours for every one of running. It can also lead up to a maximum life expectancy increase of three years.
Te runners were analyzed in five groups based on how often they ran every week. As such, the groupings ranged from less than 51 minutes per week to more than 176 minutes for the same time period. Deaths along with other metrics were gathered and summarized in each of these groups.
One of the surprising study findings was that there was a similar mortality benefit regardless of how much one ran per week. Persistence, rather than quantity, generated a better mortality outcome for those tracked in the study. Therefore, if one runs consistently over an extended period of years, they will likely have a lower mortality risk than someone who runs for a longer duration but over a shorter period of years.
The authors state the findings impact medical knowledge in that the results observed are independent of other factors such as sex, age, or existing medical conditions.
This discovery is great news for both existing runners and those interested in picking up a new healthy hobby; it might just save your life one day.
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