Research

Mixed

There is no significant dose-response relationship between the volume, frequency, duration, or pace of running and reduced mortality risk; higher doses do not yield greater benefits than lower doses.

Do not feel pressured to increase your running volume, frequency, or speed to get more health benefits. If you are already running occasionally, you are likely getting the maximum mortality benefit available from running. Focus on consistency rather than intensity or volume.

GoodRefutesMEDIUM confidence
A meta-regression analysis showed no significant dose–response trends for weekly frequency, weekly duration, pace and the total volume of running.
Željko Pedišić et al. · British Journal of Sports Medicine · 2019

Why this rating

Based on meta-regression of available cohort data, though limited by the number of studies providing dose-specific data.

Source

Is running associated with a lower risk of all-cause, cardiovascular and cancer mortality, and is the more the better? A systematic review and meta-analysis

Željko Pedišić et al. · British Journal of Sports Medicine · 2019

DOI 10.1136/bjsports-2018-100493

Meta-analysis · 14 studiesCited 237×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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