Walking better than Running?

[dylan]

i walk every day at least twice,at least 1 mile
i also run most days,
does that make me twice as fit.
or as my non running and walking friends say,twice as eccentric

[Mike T]

Fair enough.. its not an anecdote.. its science.. they look at the backgrounds of centenarians..

But read the science.. go to google scholar.. its far from anecdotal that running has negative effects on the body..

http://www.jacn.org/content/23/4/358.full

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science...ltsPerPage=200

I have vague recollections of a study looking at those Scandinavians who had taken part in a long distance XC skiing event - similar in effort to a marathon or more - they lived longer and had better health than the general population, and the benefit was not particularly related to finishing times. It may be of course that if you ski long distances you have also made other health benefitting life choices.

[Alexandra]

I'm not so sure.. I don't think long distance running is that good for you..

I think lower mileage, more mixed activity, more careful diet etc..

Long distance running is oxidative stress..

I work in ageing research, all the researchers who study centenarians laugh when I ask how many were runners.. 'very very few'..

We don't run for longevity, Ok we're all fit, certainly fitter than the average joe bloggs.. but if we wanted to be holistically healthier I think there are better ways than pure running, high mileage.. of course there are worse things..

Iain, I would have agreed with you - until I read THIS.

As for the centenarians, surely they are so few, there will be hardly any of them who fall into ANY group whatever. And running for leisure and fitness was not normal behaviour among the general population when current centenarians were young. It was normal even for those who did run as young men to give it up when they left school or university, It was even rarer for women to run and keep on running - and most centenarians will be women. Checking the current Parkrun age grade records, there are few women 70+ runners, far more 65+ women runners, and virtually no 80+ men or women runners.