The more you run, the healthier you are

By Scott Douglas

The more you run, the less your risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, suggests a new study published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.

It’s well known that exercise helps prevent Type 2 diabetes (what used to be called “adult-onset diabetes”) by increasing the body’s resistance to insulin. What’s significant in the new study is that there didn’t appear to be a limit to the benefit per time spent exercising; that is, some exercise was good, more was better and the protective benefit didn’t seem to have a ceiling.

Researchers had subjects work out at least three times a week for 16 weeks. Some worked out more. Everyone did at least three aerobic sessions a week at 75 per cent of max heart-rate for 45 minutes (in running terms, faster than easy running, a bit slower than lactate threshold pace). The researchers combined the subjects’ frequency, intensity and duration to get what they termed “exercise dose.”

Based on the results, the researchers concluded:

“Improved insulin sensitivity was significantly related to exercise dose in a graded dose–response relationship. No evidence of threshold or maximal dose–response effect was observed. Age and gender did not influence this dose–response relationship. Exercise intensity was also significantly related to improvements in insulin sensitivity.”

One line of thinking used to hold that if you run more than 30 kilometres a week, you’re doing it for something other than your health. This study suggests that, while you may very well have other reasons to run as much as you do, there are nonetheless significant health benefits from doing so.

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