A study of approximately 20,000 participants in the Copenhagen
City Heart study, which began in 1976, has confirmed that people
who engage in regular activity can potentially increase lifespan
more than five years over those who are sedentary. Researchers
at Bispebjerg University Hospital in Copenhagen compared 1,116
male joggers and 762 female joggers to others who did not jog.
The participants answered questions about the time and pace of
their jogging and the researchers tracked deaths that occurred
during the 35 year follow-up. The protective benefit was
significant with only 122 deaths among those who jogged compared
to 10,158 among non-joggers. The researchers also confirmed that
strenuous exercise, a faster pace or longer times are not
required and are not as beneficial as a slow or moderate pace a
few times per week. The risk of dying over the follow-up period
was 44% lower for the joggers, which translates into 6.2 extra
years for men and 5.6 years for women. It was just 1 – 2.5 hours
per week, perfo