There have been a few stories out this week with titles such as “Fast running is as deadly as sitting on a couch, scientists find” , “Stop binge jogging” , “Too much jogging ‘as bad as none at all'” after an article was published in the Journal of the American College Cardiology about the Copenhagen City Heart Study. The study found that light to moderate running was associated with living longer in comparison to being sedentary but running more often/strenuously did not. There were some serious limitations in the study as pointed out in this article about the reactionary press response on the NHS website and that Alex at Sweat Science , who is always worth a read, point out.
In Alex’s much more rational and informed look at the numbers in the Copenhagen study that is being used to highlight the dangers of running too much, he points out that the numbers are somewhat skewed and thus quite difficult to really extrapolate the assertions that are being made. In the NHS article they make the point, along with similar ones to Alex, that the study in no way affects the recommendations for physical activity and as such we should be doing more not less activity.
Given the need for the majority of us to do more in terms of exercise and generally be more active the reactionary nature of some of the stories that have accompanied this study are counterproductive to say the least.We need to be more positive about exercising rather than scaremongering and highlight the massive positives that come from simply being more active. Once you are more active and you want to work harder or do more then there is no reason why you shouldn’t.
