Weekly jog 'adds six years to your life'

Jogging can increase your lifespan by as much as six years, claim researchers.

Better still, you don't even need to do that much of it to reap the benefits.

Scientists have found that jogging for as little as an hour a week at a "slow or average" pace could be enough to extend a man's life expectancy by 6.2 years and a woman's by 5.6 years.

Lead researcher Dr Peter Schnohr said optimum benefits were gained from between one and two-and-a-half hours of jogging per week at a pace fast enough to "feel a little breathless, but not very breathless".

He added: "We can say with certainty that regular jogging increases longevity. The good news is that you don't actually need to do that much."

The research is part of the ongoing Copenhagen City Heart Study, which has been monitoring 20,000 Danish men and women since 1976.

Scientists compared almost 2,000 male and female joggers with non-joggers. The joggers were asked how much time they spent jogging and to define their pace as slow, average or fast.

Analysis of mortality rates over a period of up to 35 years showed that jogging reduced the risk of dying by 44 per cent for both men and women and increased lifespan by around six years.

Dr Schnohr added: "Mortality is lower in people reporting moderate jogging than in non-joggers or those undertaking extreme levels of exercise."

- Daily Mail