Runners Aren’t Necessarily Healthier Than Pedestrians
If you train for health – rather than for a specific goal, such as winning a race – does it matter if you walk, jog or run? Light jogging yields the best results in various studies, but anything that requires more effort than sitting on the couch does at least some benefit.
Emily Oster reviewed the studies on walking and running speed that she summarizes in FiveThirtyEight. Rather than looking at short-term health goals such as weight loss or cholesterol levels, these studies compare different groups of athletes in terms of their “risk ratio” of death: in general, a lower risk ratio means you have little less likely to die in this situation. year than people in another group. Oster concludes:
If we take this research at face value, we learn a few things. First, some exercise can lower your risk of death. Second, optimal walking / jogging is light to moderate jogging. The optimal speed is 5 to 7 miles per hour, and if you train for 25 minutes about three times a week, you’re good to go. Nothing in the data suggests that running more – more or faster – will lower your risk of death more.
If you’re a serious runner, that doesn’t mean you need to slow down – it just doesn’t mean you can reduce your risk further by accelerating. And all of the study participants, including people who took a leisurely 20-minute walk every day, were better than people who said they didn’t exercise at all. Your best bet is to find something that you like and can stick with , rather than worry about your speed .
What is the optimal exercise speed? | Five thirty eight
Photo by Giorgio Galeotti .
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