A daily jog of just five minutes can do wonders for the health of the heart and the circulation, researchers said last night.
Just 60 minutes of running a week can cut the risk of dying from heart disease and stroke by 45%, according to the study.
Researchers said people who ran for less than an hour a week – but kept on running – gained as much as those who ran for more than three hours.
The findings come from a study of more than 55,000 people, reported in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Researcher Dr Duck-chul Lee, of the Iowa State University Kinesiology Department, Iowa, said: "Since time is one of the strongest barriers to participate in physical activity, the study may motivate more people to start running and continue to run as an attainable health goal for mortality benefits.
"Running may be a better exercise option than more moderate intensity exercises for healthy but sedentary people since it produces similar, if not greater, mortality benefits in five to 10 minutes compared to the 15 to 20 minutes per day of moderate intensity activity that many find too time consuming."
The findings were welcomed by the British Heart Foundation.
Christopher Allen, of the British Heart Foundation, said: "What this study proves is that when it comes to keeping physically active, every step counts towards helping you maintain a healthier heart.
"Breaking your exercise down into 10-minute chunks can make this goal much more achievable and can help prolong your life by reducing your risk of dying from cardiovascular disease."
* A second study reported yesterday warns that people who are putting on weight need to increase physical activity and simultaneously reducing their amount of sedentary leisure time.
Researchers at University College, London, UK, studied the health of nearly 4,000 British government employees, for the report in the journal Diabetologia.
The study found that being physically active was the key factor in avoiding obesity. But people who spent the least amount of their leisure time sitting were least likely to be obese.
The researchers, led by Joshua Bell, say: "The effectiveness of physical activity for preventing obesity may depend on how much you sit in your leisure time. Both high levels of physical activity and low levels of leisure time sitting may be required to substantially reduce the risk of becoming obese."
Duck-chul Lee et al. Leisure-time running reduces all-cause and cardiovascular mortality risk. Journal of the American College of Cardiology 28 July 2014 [abstract]
Diabetologia 28 July 2014
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