While there are numerous studies to suggest that a lack of exercise could cause serious health related problems, a recent study carried out by Dr. Peter Schnohr, of the Frederiksberg Hospital in Copenhagen, Denmark, and his colleagues points out that too much jogging could be as bad as no exercise at all. Strenuous jogging can put exercise freaks at the same mortality risks as non-joggers while those who jog lightly live longest says the new study.
Dr Schnohr and his colleagues came to this conclusion after actively analyzing 5,048 healthy individuals over a 12 year period. Of these, 1,098 were joggers and 3,950 were sedentary non-joggers. The research team took into account the participants’ frequency of jogging, the number of hours they spent jogging and their jogging pace.
After a comprehensive analysis of the health records of the more than 5,000 participants, it was seen that jogging for 1-2.4 hours a week thrice a week was associated with lowest mortality rates. Additionally, joggers who did so at moderate or slow pace were seen to live longer. On the other hand, very fast paced joggers and sedentary non-joggers had the highest mortality rates.
“The U-shaped association between jogging and mortality suggests there may be an upper limit for exercise dosing that is optimal for health benefits. If your goal is to decrease risk of death and improve life expectancy, jogging a few times a week at a moderate pace is a good strategy. Anything more is not just unnecessary, it may be harmful,” said Dr. Schnohr while commenting on the findings.
Researcher Jacob Louis Marott, from the Frederiksberg Hospital in Copenhagen, said: “You don’t actually have to do that much to have a good impact on your health.
“And perhaps you shouldn’t actually do too much. No exercise recommendations across the globe mention an upper limit for safe exercise, but perhaps there is one.”
Scientists are yet to come to a plausible explanation for this though it is being believed that changes to the heart during extreme exercise could be the main reason.
The findings of Dr Schnohr and his colleagues were published in Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
