This article was written by Markham Heid and repurposed with permission from Prevention.
If you've never been pumped to hit the pavement, it's time to reconsider: Running—even once in a while at a slow pace—could slash your risk of death from cardiovascular disease by 45 percent, according to new research published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
The U.S.-based study team tracked the health outcomes and running habits of more than 55,000 adults for 15 years. Compared to non-runners, those who ran saw a 30 percent drop in all-cause mortality risk and lived an average of three years longer. The best part: Those health benefits didn’t really change regardless of how often, how fast, or how far the runners ran.
MORE: Yes, You Can Run
"The mortality benefits in runners were similar across running time, distance, frequency, amount, and speed," says study co-author D.C. Lee, Ph.D, assistant professor of kinesiology at Iowa State University.
This could be great news for people who feel daunted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendation to get 150 minutes of moderate exercise every week—which works out to more than 20 minutes a day. According to Lee, just five to 10 minutes a day of jogging at an easy pace will cut your cardiovascular risk by a whopping 58 percent.
Cardiovascular activity like running has been shown time and again to improve blood pressure and blood sugar sensitivity. Along with the improved cardiorespiratory fitness that results from running, any one of these effects (or all of them) could explain why runners live longer than non-runners, suggests Lee.
MORE: How to Perfect Your Running Form
If you're not a runner and you tend to not get any exercise, start by walking daily for a few weeks to help your body grow accustomed to movement and to prevent injury, recommends Lee. And once you start running, stick with it. Even if you're only out on the road or trail every once in a while for a few minutes, persistence is more important than running hard or fast, suggests the study. Runners who kept at it for six years or more enjoyed the most health benefits, says Lee. (Consider this your permission to buy yourself some snazzy new running shoes.)
More from Prevention:
3 Eating Mistakes That Keep You From Losing Weight—No Matter How Much You Run
Try This Thigh-Toning Treadmill Routine
10 Moves To Tone Your Butt—While Keeping Your Gorgeous Curves
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