The debate over the benefits jogging started in the 1970s when middle aged men took to the streets. However after a few men died while out on a run, various people suggested that jogging might be dangerous for ordinary middle aged people.

Since then, there have been numerous researchers looking at the issue and a large study from Denmark has added some further evidence of the effect on longevity.

The Copenhagen City Heart study started in 1976 and is a prospective cardiovascular population study of around 20,000 men and women aged between 20 to 93 years. The study set out to increase knowledge about prevention of cardiovascular disease and stroke. Since then the study, which has resulted in publication of over 750 papers, has expanded to include other diseases such as heart failure, pulmonary diseases, allergy, epilepsy, dementia, sleep-apnea and genetics. The investigators have explored the associations for longevity with different forms of exercise and other factors.

For the jogging study, the mortality of 1,116 male joggers and 762 female joggers was compared to the non joggers in the main study population. Participants answered questions about the amount of time they spent jogging each week, and to rate their own perceptions of pace (defined as slow, average, and fast).

The first data was collected between 1976 to 1978, the second from 1981 to 1983, the third from 1991 to 1994, and the fourth from 2001 to 2003.

Results show that in the follow-up period of up to 35 years, 10,158 deaths were registered among the non-joggers and 122 deaths among the joggers. Analysis showed that risk of death was reduced by 44% for male joggers and 44% for female joggers.

The results showed jogging produced an age adjusted survival benefit of 6.2 years in men and 5.6 years in women.

The investigators found that between one hour and two and a half hours a week, undertaken over two to three sessions, delivered the optimum benefits. The ideal intensity was a pace that made runners feel a little breathless.

I suspect that there were very few people in this study who did higher intensity training, which is a more efficient way to achieve the same fitness results in less time.

I also doubt that many of these older athletes were doing regular strength training. If they had, perhaps they would have added closer to 10 years to their life.

You keep getting told that being active is important for good health.

Governments tell you, doctors should be telling you and I keep telling you through this newsletter.

The question I get most often, especially from older people, is how active do I need to do.

And the answer is – as much as it takes for you to be fit.

And here’s why – it’s your fitness that protects you. It’s not how active you are (although this obviously influences your fitness), but how fit you are.

A 2010 study showed that exercise capacity (fitness) is an independent predictor of all-cause mortality in older men. (Exercise Capacity and Mortality in Older Men. A 20-Year Follow-Up Study. Circulation. 2010 Aug 9)

Between 1986 and 2008, the researchers assessed the association between exercise capacity and all-cause mortality in 5314 male veterans aged 65 to 92 years.

They initially determined how fit each of the men was and then followed them for up to 25.3 years. During that period there were 2137 deaths.

Baseline exercise capacity (fitness) was a strong predictor of mortality, with the fittest men having the lowest risk of dying.

And the great news was that the unfit men who improved their fitness had a 35% lower mortality risk compared with those who remained unfit.

That means that being fit protects you from dying and whatever age you are, it is never too late to improve your fitness and get the benefits that go with being fit.

I’ve heard it as an excuse for not exercising to lose weight a number of times – “If I exercise, I only get hungrier and eat more.”

Intrinsically, people who exercise know that they don’t eat more, and some recent research has identified how exercise makes you feel full.

Brazilian researchers have discovered that exercise not only helps you shed kilos by burning calories, but also makes you feel full by triggering neurons in the brain.

Researchers at the University of Campinas Exercise say that exercise restores the sensitivity of neurons involved in the control of satiety (feeling full), which in turn contributes to reduced food intake and consequently fat loss.

The increased prevalence of obesity has become one of the most important health issues of this century. Changing eating habits and a sedentary lifestyle both have a role in the increasing waistlines we are seeing in both adults and children.

It is postulated that excessive consumption of fat creates failures in the signal transmitted by neurons controlling satiety in a region of the brain called the hypothalamus. These failures can lead to uncontrolled food intake and, consequently, obesity.

This recent research found that exercising obese rodents showed signals of restored satiety in hypothalamic neurons and decreased food intake.

In the obese animals, exercise increased certain proteins in the hypothalamus. These molecules were crucial for increasing the sensitivity of the most important hormones, insulin and leptin, which control appetite.

Exercise contributes to the prevention and treatment of obesity, not only by increasing energy expenditure but also by modulating the signals of satiety and reducing food intake.

Physical activity has long been considered an essential habit in the treatment of obesity, however, this research sheds light on another way in which exercise impacts the control of body fat. Besides reinforcing the necessity for regular exercise, it also changes the current paradigm of the relationship between physical activity and weight loss.

So what does it mean for you?

Developing the regular habit of exercise is essential to maintaining healthy body fat levels. Having an active lifestyle helps, but your exercise needs to be at a high enough intensity to increase fitness to have the most impact on satiety and body fat.

Unfortunately for some, the onset of cooler mornings and days means the exercise program gets harder to do.

That’s a shame because exercising in cooler weather is just as, if not more, beneficial than exercising in the heat.

A recent study has highlighted how keeping cool means you can exercise at a higher intensity, and as I wrote recently intensity is important.

The small study examined the effects on various markers of health and fitness from holding a hand-cooling device during aerobic exercise.

Twenty four women ages 30 to 45 exercised three days a week for 12 weeks. Some held a palm-cooling device chilled to about 15 degrees Celcius during their workouts.

The others held the same device, but it was at normal body temperature, 37C degrees. All study participants worked toward exercising for 45-minute periods at 80% of their maximum heart rates.

During the three months the group that held the cooling device cut an average of five minutes off their time during a 1.5-mile walk, reduced their waist size by an average of almost seven centimetres, lowered their resting blood pressure and increased their exercise heart rate. Those in the control group saw no significant changes.

Keeping cool while exercising means the heart doesn’t have to work as hard since it isn’t trying to pump blood to the skin to cool you down. This means more blood can be pumped to the working muscles and you can exercise at a higher intensity. Which is a good thing.

So what does it mean for you.

Firstly, as hard as it is to get out of bed when it is colder outside, don’t let the cooler weather stop you from doing your exercise. Don’t be a bear and hibernate all winter only to have to do all the hard work in spring to regain your fitness.

Secondly, don’t think you have to add extra clothes to stay warm. It may be a bit cold when you first start but you will warm up from the inside soon enough. If necessary wear something you can take off and carry once you have warmed up.

If you live in the northern hemisphere and you are heading into summer try and do your exercise in the cool of the morning or evening.

Staying cool while you exercise means you get more benefit from your time and effort.

Ever wondered what would happen if you had an accident while out exercising? Maybe you worry more about a loved one.

Well this might give you some peace of mind.

On a recent trip to the United States I went walking with a friend who was wearing an ad for identification bands for runners, cyclists and swimmers.

What a great idea. I’m often riding my bike on my own and if something happened to me, people wouldn’t know who I was.

I now wear a RoadID slim all the time. It is small enough and stylish enough that I just leave it on.

I got thinking as to all the people who could be that bit safer by wearing a RoadID and it’s just about everyone; from children to older adults, swimmers to skiers, runners to cyclists.

I was so taken with the idea that I asked the RoadID team if I could promote them on my website. And they said yes.

So, if you would like to look at all the RoadID options and choose the one that best suits you, click on the RoadID logo above.

Not sure? Here are 10 reasons you should wear a RoadID.

1. If you can’t speak for yourself, Road ID will speak for you.

2. Road ID enables First Responders to immediately contact family members and friends.

3. Road ID enables family members to provide additional details about your health or give consent for potentially life saving procedures.

4. Road ID enables hospital staff to locate vital medical records.

5. Road ID can communicate medical conditions or allergy information to medical staff.

6. Road ID can prevent serious delays in treatment by saving crucial time during the “golden hour” of medical treatment.

7. It’s far better to have Road ID and not need it than to need Road ID and not have it. It’s not just a piece of gear, it’s peace of mind.

8. Accidents happen far more than you think they do. Each year approximately thousands of runners and cyclists are taken to hospitals unconscious and without identification.

9. Road ID looks good on and makes a statement about your athletic lifestyle – not to mention that studies would probably prove that people that wear Road ID are considerably smarter than those that don’t.

10. Road ID can save your Life.

If you think your exercise program needs an overhaul or you just want to make sure you doing the right exercise for you or you need some help to make exercise a habit, then this workshop could be just what you need.

I am running my Build a Fitter Future workshop for the University of Western Australia’s Extension Program in a few months. The program is for those just starting out or regular exercisers who want to make sure they are on track.

If you want more information or to enrol go to UWA Extension online brochure here.

I know I’ve said it before and I’ll no doubt say it again, but I’ve just read about three recent studies showing that vigorous exercise is far more effective than just exercising in preventing disease and prolonging life.

The studies used three different measures of how fit a person is. Fitness is determined by how INTENSELY you exercise not by how LONG you exercise.

The first study measured how fast a person can cycle; the second, how fast the heart rate recovers after you stop exercising; and the third, the maximal amount of oxygen that a person can take in and use.

A study from Denmark followed 5106 cyclists for 18 years and showed that men who cycled very fast survived 5.3 years longer, and men who cycled moderately fast lived 2.9 years longer than men who cycled slowly. For women the figures were 3.9 and 2.2 years longer (European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, February 2012;19(1):73-80).

The researchers state that the relative intensity, and not the duration of cycling, is of more importance in relation to all-cause and coronary heart disease mortality.

In the second study,(Journal of Internal Medicine, December 2011;270(6):589-96) 1100 healthy men, aged 42-61, exercised as hard as they could on a stationary bicycle to get their maximal heart rate, the fastest that their hearts could beat. Then they had their heart rates recorded exactly two minutes after they stopped exercising. The difference between maximal heart rate and the rate two minutes after stopping is called the recovery heart rate.

The men were followed for an average of 18 years. Those who had the greatest slowing of their heart rates (i.e. the fittest) were the least likely to have died during the follow-up period.

In the third study, 8,565 apparently healthy men were tested to measure the maximal amount of oxygen that they could use over a given period (VO2Max). This is considered the best measure of aerobic fitness but requires expensive laboratory equipment to assess.

Those with the highest ability to take in and use oxygen had the least high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and heart disease. Not surprisingly they also had the lowest calculated 10-year risk for heart attacks (American Journal of Cardiology, March 2012;109(6):839-843).

What do these studies tell us?

• That being fit is more important than being thin.

• That the intensity you exercise is more important than how long you exercise for.

• That you don’t need a lot of time to stay fit and healthy.

So next time you go out for your exercise, think about whether you are exercising at an intensity that will make you fitter. Are you going fast enough to get puffed and get your heart pumping.

If not you might be wasting your time.

Are you tired of hearing that exercise and being fit will be good for you in years to come?

Well, this study might excite you.

According to researchers from Penn State University, people who are more physically active report greater levels of excitement and enthusiasm than people who are less physically active. People also are more likely to report feelings of excitement and enthusiasm on days when they are more physically active than usual.

It didn’t seem to matter how fit you were, people who were active, regardless of fitness level enjoyed a feel-good reward afterwards.

For regular exercisers, this might not be a surprise. But it can be helpful to motivate people to start and stick with their exercise.

Most people set health or fitness goals weeks or months into the future. And many give up before they achieve them.

By focusing on how they feel on the day after they have exercised, rather than on how much weight they have lost in 3 months or how much fitter they are in 6 weeks, they are more likely to exercise again tomorrow.

People like short term rewards.

The researchers asked 190 university students to keep daily diaries, including free-time physical activity and sleep quantity and quality, as well as their mental states, including perceived stress and how they feel.

Participants were instructed to record only those bouts of activity that were for at least 15 minutes and to note whether the it was mild, moderate or vigorous. Participants returned their diaries to the researchers at the end of each day for a total of eight days.

The researchers separated the participants’ feeling states into four categories:

1. pleasant-activated feelings exemplified by excitement and enthusiasm,
2. pleasant-deactivated feelings exemplified by satisfaction and relaxation,
3. unpleasant-activated feelings exemplified by anxiety and anger, and
4. unpleasant-deactivated feelings exemplified by depression and sadness.

They found that people who are more physically active have more pleasant-activated feelings than people who are less active. They also found that people have more pleasant-activated feelings on days when they are more physically active than usual.

The results suggest that not only are there chronic benefits of physical activity, but there are discrete benefits as well. Doing more exercise than you typically do can give you a burst of pleasant-activated feelings.

This appears to be the first study to have looked at the notion of activation in pleasant or unpleasant feelings.

“Knowing that moderate and vigorous physical activity generates a pleasant-activated feeling, rather than just a pleasant feeling, might help to explain why physical activity is so effective for treating depression.

Not only do you feel good, but you feel enthusiastic and energised.

So if you are feeling a bit flat, get moving and enjoy the feeling later in the day.

Every year, most of us make a New Year’s resolution or two. Many of those resolutions are about our health and fitness. Changes we would like to make to feel better and live healthier lifestyles. Some things are obvious, like eating better and exercise but there are other important lifestyle changes you can make that will get you on the right path in the New Year.

1. Create your own personal fitness area

It doesn’t have to cost you thousands of dollars to set up a fitness area at home. You may not necessarily need or want any fancy equipment. You just need to set up a specific place in your home where you go to exercise. Make sure it’s an open space so you’ll have room to move around. Start simple! Purchase a floor mat, get some adjustable dumbbells or resistance bands. You can add to your equipment as you get fitter.

If you have a TV in your bedroom or in another area of the house, move it to your new gym and exercise while you watch your favourite shows. Or get some mini speakers for your iPod and listen to the songs that remind you of fun times in your life.

2. Go to bed

It might seem obvious, but skipping out on that hour or two of sleep can really affect your productivity and take a toll on your energy levels. Getting seven to eight hours of sleep every night is important for your mind and your body. Do what you can to wind down for the couple of hours before you go to sleep each night.

While exercising is important, you’ll want to avoid working out just before bedtime as well, so you don’t confuse your body into thinking it’s time to be full of energy – when really it’s time to shut down.

3. Calm Down

Stress is a normal part of life, but finding time to de-stress should be part of your everyday health routine.

Exercise will help. Even a short walk, is a good way to clear your mind.

Meditation can be a great way to de-stress. Many people enjoy Yoga for its meditative benefits – but even finding a quiet place and just closing your eyes can be a refresher.

Read a good book, take a soothing bath, or listen to music. Talk with a good friend and get a few good laughs in. When the work day is done, stop thinking about everything that you’ll need to do for the next day and simply relax.

4. Stretch

Stretching is a quick and easy way to reduce tension and build injury-proof your muscles. At the end of each day, sit on the lounge room floor for a few minutes and stretch out your muscles.

5. Keep a Fitness Journal Write down your fitness goals in a journal, diary or online tracking app. Set a list of reasonable goals to start. Record the exercises you do. Even writing down how you feel after exercising can reveal new things that will help you tailor your individual fitness plan.

6. Phone a friend

Support is crucial. Find a workout buddy who is supportive and has similar fitness goals to you. Work out with a friend, child or partner. Encourage each other to stay motivated. It might be as simple as walking around the neighbourhood or grabbing a friend for a short walk during your workday.

The key to lifelong fitness is the daily habits you develop so use these suggestions to build a routine that will make you fitter and healthier in 2012.

In a recent article outlining health trends in the US, the president of the Values Institute at DGWB commented that the trends are consistent with the growing importance of health in America.

Apparently it is a primary goal in 2012 for three out of four consumers, even though it is yet to translate into daily routines.

He goes on to state that “It’s not an exaggeration to say that health is the new prestige barometer in this country ˜ meaning that the great majority of Americans would rather be considered healthy rather than wealthy.”

My guess is that, if asked, you would say the same thing; you would put health over wealth (not that you can’t have both).

If that’s the case, what are you going to do in 2012 to ensure better health and fitness this year. Here’s some things you could do to be fitter and healthier this time next year.

• Get up 30 minutes earlier to go for a walk, run, swim or bike ride. If breakfast is supposed to kick-start your metabolism after a night’s sleep imagine what some exercise will do to it.

• Get up from your desk twice every hour to bend, stretch, walk around your office or run up to the next floor and back. There is increasing evidence that people who sit for 8 hours a day at work are at increased risk, so plan to move often.

• Find a friend (or a dog) who needs to improve their fitness and make a deal to meet them to exercise a couple of times a week. Having a commitment to someone else is the best way to maintain your routine.

• Plan a holiday or trip that motivates you to train and get fitter. The power of a goal to get you out of bed when it is cold outside can’t be overstated. Knowing you will enjoy your holiday so much more if you are fit is a good incentive to push that bit harder.

• Imagine how bad you will feel if your fitness and health are worse in 12 months than they are now. And use that feeling to motivate you to get going when you’d rather not. The fear of losing something, in this case your health and fitness, is a strong motivator. Use it to your advantage.