Want to Live Longer? Start Jogging

Danish researchers have found that jogging at least an hour a week will help you live longer.

Jogging was associated with a 44 percent reduction in the relative risk of death over 35 years compared with deaths among non-joggers, according to Dr. Peter Schnohr, chief cardiologist from the Copenhagen City Heart study.

And the benefit was observed for both men and women.

That reduction translated into an "age-adjusted survival benefit of 6.2 years in men and 5.6 years in women," Schnohr reported here at EuroPRevent 2012.

"The results of our research allow us to definitively answer the question of whether jogging is good for your health," Schnohr said in a prepared statement. "We can say with certainty that regular jogging increases longevity. The good news is that you don't actually need to do that much to reap the benefits."

Moreover, the optimum benefit was realized for those who jogged at a slow-to-average pace between an hour and two and half hours done in two to three sessions over the course of a week.