14 DAY TRIAL // Here is a piece of news that might interest those who are thinking about taking up running but who have not yet mustered the courage to actually put on a pair of sneakers and get their legs moving.
In a nutshell, researchers now say that, according to evidence at hand, folks who run on a regular basis are likely to live longer and be considerably healthier than those who spend most of their time indoors.
Specifically, it appears that runners tend to live about 3 years longer than people who aren't big fans of physical activities other than using a remote control to change the TV channel, EurekAlert informs.
What's more, it looks like runners have a 30% lower risk of death from all causes and a 45% lower risk of death either from heart disease or from stroke, researchers write in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Interestingly enough, it looks like one does not even have to run like crazy for an insane amount of time to experience the perks of engaging in this form of exercise.
Thus, evidence indicates that running only for a few minutes a day or running at fairly slow speeds still helps lower your average Joe or Jane's risk of death from cardiovascular disease.
“Running may be a better exercise option than more moderate intensity exercises for healthy but sedentary people since it produces similar mortality benefits in five to 10 minutes compared to the 15 to 20 minutes per day of moderate intensity activity that many find too time consuming.”
“Since time is one of the strongest barriers to participate in physical activity, the study may motivate more people to start running and continue to run as an attainable health goal for mortality benefits,” says researcher Duck-chul Lee, Ph.D.