A Study Shows That If You Run For An Hour, You Live 7 Hours Longer

Always wanted to know the secret to living longer? It could be something most of us already know how to do instinctively – running.

All you need is a pair of good running shoes, some comfortable clothes to run in and you’re good to go.

A while back, a study found that running as little as five minutes lets you live longer. After the results were released, the team were bombarded with questions from fellow colleagues and the general public.

Do other exercises like walking have benefits for increasing life span?

People who run a lot wonder if they were running too much, and instead of increasing their life span, they’re decreasing it.

Do you have to run a year in order to reduce the risk of dying by a year?

A Review Of The Study To Address The Questions

The group of researchers decide to open up the study again and review the data to address the questions., it was found that compared to people who do not run, runners tend to live about three extra years.

After re-analysing the data from the previous study and other large-scale studies regarding exercising and lifespan, it was found that compared to people who do not run, runners tend to live about three extra years.

Even if they run occasionally, smoke, drink or are obese. It was also stated that no other forms of exercise show such an effect on life span.

Typically, other exercises like walking, cycling and other activities reduce the risk of premature death by 12%.

For Every Hour Ran, You’ll Have Seven More Hours to Live

The data indicated that no matter how fast or how long, running can reduce premature death by almost 40%.

The scientists also determined that if every single non-runner who were part of the reviewed study took up running, there’ll be 16% lesser deaths and 25% lesser fatal heart attacks.

In fact, it was calculated that for every hour ran, you’ll lengthen your lifespan by 7 hours.

You Can’t Live Forever

Unfortunately, for you and me, the increase in lifespan is capped at about three years.

Improvements to your life expectancy are about four hours per week; any more running after that does not add to your life.

Think of it like reaching level 99 in a game, you can’t go any higher than that (depending on the game you’re playing, of course).

Of course, if by then you’re addicted to running, running for more than four hours a week will not have any side-effects for your longevity.

Prof Lee, one of the researchers on the team said that it is likely due to the fact that running fights many of the common risk factors for early death like hypertension and excess fats that it’s so effective at prolonging your life.

The Study is Associational By Nature

Chim, right? I know.

In layman’s term, the study merely associated running with longer lives, and not say that running causes people to live longer.

It could be the fact that runners typically lead healthier lives compared to non-runners.

Now, you can choose not to believe the study, but you can’t ignore the fact that runners are definitely healthier.

So what are you waiting for? Your running shoes are calling for you.