Jogging Health

Are you a jogger? If so, great! If not, you might want to start running, at least a little bit.

It really doesn't get any simpler than this... joggers live longer!

At least that's the result from a newly released long-term study. Researchers looked at nearly 20,000 people from 1976 to today. They were 20-79 years old. Researchers found that those who jogged ended up living around 6 years longer than those who didn't. And we aren't talking about running yourself into the ground to get this benefit. Even light joggers lived longer.

This study found that jogging at a slow to average pace for 1-2 1/2 hours per meek was what worked the best. And putting in the time over 2-3 sessions during that week also seemed to be the way to do it. That means that one secret to living longer is a slow to average job for 30 minutes just 3 times a week.

Now this doesn't mean that running faster won't get you in better shape, but we are almost looking at apples and oranges here. Running faster will get you in better racing shape and might help you lose pounds faster, but for living longer, the slower jogging seemed to work the best.

The researchers also didn't look at other types of exercise, like cycling, which can also help you stay healthy. The important point is that exercise is important and although many of us don't think we have time for a good exercise program, this study shows it really doesn't take all that much time. And it might help keep you around a bit longer too!