If you're a runner who secretly hates running, here's some good news: settling into a leisurely jog rather than an all-out run may actually be better for your health in the long term.
A team from Denmark followed over 5,000 people taking part in the Copenhagen City Heart Study, and tracked whether they were non-joggers or joggers who kept a slow, moderate, or fast pace. The participants' health was tracked over the next 12 years, and so was their mortality (死亡率): 28 of the joggers and 128 of the non-joggers died.
The connection was this: Joggers of mild and moderate intensity had a lower risk of death than the fast joggers. In fact, the lowest mortality risk was that of the mild intensity joggers. The fast-paced joggers had about the same mortality rate as sedentary (久坐的) people. This suggests that there may be an upper limit to hard exercise, after which the benefits fall off.
"The U-shaped association between jogging and mortality suggests there may be an upper limit for exercise amount that is best for health benefits," said study author Peter Schnohr. "Anything more is not just unnecessary: it may be harmful." From the current study, jogging just three times per week, for less than 2.5 hours/week was associated with the lowest overall mortality risk.
There've been a lot of mixed messages about the "right" amount of exercise and what intensity is best. The World Health Organization has suggested that the current 150 minutes/week recommendations are strenuous for most people to tackle, and that expectations should be lowered, since, after all, anything is better than nothing. Everyone probably has a level of activity that feels best to him or her. But at least the growing consensus seems to be that more-if you're pushing yourself very hard-is not necessarily better. And it may even be worse.
4. What was the study designed to find out?
A.The advantages of jogging over running. |
B.The common causes of death from exercise. |
C.The difference between non-joggers and joggers. |
D.The relation between exercise amount and health. |
5. Who will face the highest mortality risk according to the study?
A.Those fast-paced joggers. |
B.Those slow-paced joggers. |
C.Those jogging 150 minutes per week. |
D.Those jogging just three times per week. |
6. What might Peter Schnohr agree with?
A.The early bird catches the worm. |
B.Wealth is nothing without health. |
C.To go beyond is as wrong as to fall short. |
D.Enough exercise brings about happiness. |
7. What does the underlined word "strenuous" in the last paragraph mean?
A.Intense. | B.Wide-ranging. | C.Necessary. | D.Far-reaching. |