Even Short Runs Have Major Health Benefits

Jogging a mile or two a few times a week can help you live longer and reduce your risk of disease

By Markham Heid of The NY Times. Excerpts:

"One might assume that in order to reap the biggest rewards, you need to regularly run long distances, but there’s strong evidence linking even very short, occasional runs to significant health benefits, particularly when it comes to longevity and mental well-being.

“We’ve found that going for something like a two-mile run a few times a week gets you pretty much the full benefit of running in terms of lower mortality,” said Dr. James H. O’Keefe, the director of preventive cardiology at St. Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City, Mo."

"Dr. O’Keefe . . . Compared to nonrunners, people who ran between one and 2.4 hours per week at a slow or moderate pace enjoyed the greatest reductions in mortality — greater even than among runners who logged more miles at a faster pace."

"Other researchers have come to similar conclusions."

"running just five to 10 minutes per day at a slow pace (under six miles per hour) was associated with “markedly reduced risks” for all causes of death. It was also enough to extend a person’s life by several years."

"Even running for less than a mile — assuming a person is running at least a few days a week — is enough to meaningfully improve cardiovascular health and longevity"

"brief bouts of vigorous exercise — such as short runs — are enough to trigger some of these exerkine-related benefits.

Short runs can bolster your mental health, as well."

"adults who got the widely recommended 2.5 hours of moderate physical activity per week had a 25 percent lower risk of depression compared to people who didn’t exercise at all. But those who completed just half of the recommended 2.5 weekly hours still had an 18 percent lower risk of depression compared to people who didn’t exercise."

"“The growing consensus in the field is that the benefits of running start to accrue within minutes,” said Dr. Rajesh Vedanthan, an associate professor of population health at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine who has studied the relationship between running and longevity.

“The key message here,” he added, “is that any physical activity is much better than none.”"

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