Want to Stay Healthy? Get Some Exercise. More is Better
Regular exercise, in general, and running in particular, has been found to help prevent everything from colds and the flu to cancer, heart disease, and stroke. Medical experts now rank lack of exercise as high as smoking as a risk factor for poor health.
Exercising more than the typically recommended 30 minutes a day or 3.5 hours per week has been shown to have even greater health benefits.
Colds and Flu
Recent research at Appalachian State University’s Human Performance Lab has shown that people who walked briskly for 45 minutes, five days a week, had fewer and less severe colds and flu, reducing their sick days by up to 50%.
Breast Cancer
The Race for the Cure may raise money to cure cancer, but training for and running the race may be part of the cure, too. Studies have shown that women who exercise regularly can expect a 20% to 30% reduction in the chance of getting breast cancer compared with women who didn’t exercise. Another study of 3,000 women being treated for breast cancer found that walking the equivalent of three to five hours per week reduced the risk of dying from the disease by 50%.
Stroke and Heart Disease
A study found that men and women who ran more than 5 miles a day had a 60% lower risk of stroke and a 26% lower risk of coronary heart disease than those who ran at the recommended 30 minutes per day. One study of runners indicated that the risk of coronary heart disease continued to decline with increasing mileage, up to 50 miles per week.
What effect has exercise and running had on your health? Tell me in the comments.
