To jog or not to jog?

The whole jogging phenomenon is an interesting one. People from even half a century ago would marvel at people of all shapes and textures donning material that leaves nothing to the imagination and then roaming the streets in anything from a ramble to a sprint. Yet to our modern mind there is nothing odd at all in the practice because even if you don’t jog, then somewhere in your mind is the notion that jogging is healthy which explains why people do it. Let’s be clear; jogging is healthy and you should exercise in some form. Jogging is like most things in life though; it is the dose that makes the poison. Even good things in inadequate quantity don’t do much good and in excess can become harmful. The question is what is the magic zone, the golden amount of something, where you gain its maximum benefits? According to a new study researchers claim to have found that there is an upper limit to the amount of jogging you should do.

The study took place over 12 years and involved almost 1,100 joggers who were compared to 3,950 sedentary non-joggers.

Overall the joggers were younger, had a lower prevalence of diabetes and smoking, had lower blood pressure and lower body mass index. So they had a headstart on their less active counterparts but the researchers found there is jogging and then there’s jogging.

The results showed that people who jogged for between 1 and 2.4 hours per week at a slow or moderate pace over no more than three days in a week had lower mortality rates. However, the highest mortality rates were found among sedentary people and fast-paced joggers.

It seems from these figures that if your aim is to promote a long and healthy life then moderate paced jogging is better for you than a full-on, fast paced, vigorous effort.

You still can run for your life, but maybe you shouldn’t sprint for it.