Jogging does a body good as long as people don’t over do it, according to a new study.

Researchers at the University of Copenhagen looked at 1,098 joggers and 413 sedentary, but healthy, non-joggers. They found those who jogged lived longer than those who didn’t exercise at all. But it turned out that those who jogged too much or too fast put too much stress on their bodies and tended to live shorter lives than those who jogged at an easier pace.

The study, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, determined the “optimal dose of jogging is light, and strenuous joggers and sedentary non-joggers have similar mortality rates,” Jacob Louis Marott, a researcher for the Copenhagen City Heart Study and co-author of the study, told The New York Times.

So what should joggers aim for in terms of running time if they want to maximize their lifespan?  The research says between 1 hour and 2.4 hours each week.

And take it slow.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

To Learn More:

Slow Runners Come Out Ahead (by Gretchen Reynolds, New York Times)

Fast Running is as Deadly as Sitting on Couch, Scientists Find (by Sarah Napton, The Telegraph)

Dose of Jogging and Long-Term Mortality : The Copenhagen City Heart Study (by Peter Schnohr, MD, DMSc, James H. O’Keefe, MD, Jacob L. Marott, MSc, Peter Lange, MD, DMS, and Gorm B. Jensen, MD, DMSc) (abstract)

Study Suggests Liberals Live Longer than Conservatives; Independents Longer than Democrats and Republicans (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)

Legally Married U.S. Couples Live Longer than Unmarried Couples…If They’re White, but not Black (by Matt Bewig, AllGov)

Why Rich People Live Longer than Everyone Else (by Noel Brinkerhoff and David Wallechinsky, AllGov)