Exercise is Medicine Part 5 – The case for running

I do not usually give advice about what particular exercise you should take. I hold that since all exercise is good, the most important element in any exercise programme is the appeal it has for the exerciser. It is true that some particular exercise regimes are a bit better than others for one benefit or another but the most important element of any programme is its sustainability. This is all about the the individual’s choice – the regime that you choose must be enjoyable or you will soon default.

Today I am going to stray from this path and suggest what my exercise prescription might include.

Running!

I believe that the most important long-term goal of regular physical activity is maintaining good health and mobility as long as possible – staving off frailty and immobility until the last possible moment!

Running has many characteristics of the ideal exercise. It is cheap, the only equipment needed is a pair of running shoes, it can be done alone or with a group, it can be done when and where it is convenient and it is can be classed as vigorous or very vigorous so running for just 75 minutes a week meets the DoH guidelines.

Running is also highly effective for reducing the diseases of later life and for slowing the ageing process. One study followed up over 500 members of a running club, aged 50 or more, over nine years and compared them to a similar number of non-running members of the same community. The disability scores were low in both groups at the start of the study and remained so in the runners over the whole period of follow-up. However the disability scores in the non-runners rose steadily throughout the nine years. When this group was followed up for a total of 19 years the benefits sustained by the runners continued to accumulate.  The average time until the onset of measurable disability was 16 years later for the runners compared with the controls. The health gap between the groups increased through the period of study and was still widening into the tenth decade of life.

The benefits of running

The reduction of disability in later life brought about by running is not only mediated by very high levels of physical fitness, but also by reduction of all the non-communicable diseases such as heart disease, strokes, obesity, diabetes, osteoporosis and dementia.

As well as having a huge effect on physical health, running has been shown to be extremely beneficial to mental health. “Exercise has a dramatic anti-depressive effect, it blunts the brain’s response to physical and emotional stress …It is the single best thing one can do to slow the cognitive decline which accompanies normal ageing.” Exercise can be as effective as antidepressant medication. Other mental health benefits of running include better working memory, better task-switching ability and improved mood. Runners have lower levels of anxiety, depression and hostility than non-runners.

parkrun

The best introduction to running that I know is the parkrun.

“parkrun” (small p) was started in Bushy Park in 2004 and has spread rapidly both in this country and around the world. Every Saturday morning at 9am the participants join their local group for a 5km run (or walk). Entry is free and the time taken is recorded but is not made a big thing. Currently in the UK there are some 200,000 parkrunners each week in about 1,300 locations. There is almost certain to be one, or more, in your vicinity. Across the world there are more than 2,500 parkrun locations and about 350,000 people worldwide participate.

For those who are interested but do not currently run, there is an excellent app, “from couch to 5k”, to help them get ready to join in. 

Prescribing parkrun

There is now a “parkrun practice initiative” which more than 1,800 GP practices have joined (about one fifth of all UK practices) and which presumably promote parkrun to their patients.  Running just once a week is not enough to meet the Department of Health’s recommendations on physical activity but the shortfall can easily be made up by taking a couple of other runs during the week or about two hour’s walking.

Muscular strength and endurance

Being a runner is not a substitute for the benefits of muscle strengthening exercises. I gave my suggestions for these activities in my blog of 22nd February – just scroll back through this blog page to find them.

The DoH recommendations include doing strengthening activities that work all the major muscle groups (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders and arms) on at least 2 days a week. Some of their suggestions include carrying heavy shopping bags, yoga, pilates, tai chi, lifting weights, working with resistance bands, doing exercises that use your own body weight, such as push-ups and sit-ups, heavy gardening, such as digging and shovelling and lifting and carrying children.

Next time

I will talk more about prescribing exercise.