Forget the fountain of youth. If you’re seeking longevity, put on your running shoes instead.
Regular, vigorous running has been found to lower mortality and reduce disability – giving a whole new meaning to the phrase “Run for your life.”
It has long been known that there are health benefits to jogging – and any other type of physical activity.
But a recent study out of the Stanford University School of Medicine determined that older runners who had been jogging for more than 20 years were half as likely as their non-running peers to die early deaths. They also had fewer disabilities and more active, healthy years in which to enjoy life.
“If you had to pick one thing to make people healthier as they age, it would be aerobic exercise,” said James Fries, the study’s lead author, in a written statement.
From the results, it isn’t hard to understand why.
The runners, who were followed for 21 years by the researchers, were not only much less likely to die from cardiovascular-related causes they had lower rates of deaths from neurological disorders as well. The study, the researchers said, also supports previous research suggesting that regular exercise reduces the incidence of dementia and several types of cancer.
“Our findings of decreased disability in addition to prolonged survival among middle-aged and older adults participating in routine physical activities further support recommendations to encourage moderate to vigorous physical activity at all ages,” the study determined.
When the research began in 1984, however, the scientific community didn’t necessarily embrace vigorous exercise. Jogging was still a relatively new fad, and some wondered whether all that pounding on the pavement would harm runners – especially seniors – more than it would help them.
‘’Does running benefit you? Nobody really has a clear answer,’’ one physician told the New York Times that year after James Fixx, one of the fathers of the running movement, died while jogging at the age of 52.
The Stanford team set off to find out. But unlike many other scientists, they didn’t believe that running would cause more injuries and disability. If anything, they conjectured, it might shorten the period of time at the end of life when many seniors have difficulty carrying out daily tasks on their own. They enrolled 538 runners – average age, 59 – from a nationwide running club to prove their point.
Their study has borne their hypothesis out. The runners, who ran an average of four hours a week when the study began, now manage about 76 minutes of running per week. Despite the reduced amount of running, they continue to reap the rewards. The runners delayed any signs of disability for 16 years, on average, compared to their inactive counterparts. And, equally important, a companion study published in the August issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, found no higher rates of osteoarthritis in runners.
Running isn’t for everyone, however. Medical and physical limitations need to be considered. And what is true on average regarding injuries may not apply to any one individual . I’ve always said that the best exercise program is the one you stick with and do regularly. For some, that may be running. For others, it may be swimming, walking, dancing, or tennis. Any regular exercise, in fact, can help prevent more than a dozen of the health conditions on the Navigenics genetic risk assessment panel.