A new health study revealed that joggers who run frequently and at a fast rate are at risk of suffering an early death, Telegraph reported.
The researchers behind the study even said the chances of dying early for these types of joggers are almost the same as those who do not engage in any form of physical exercise.
For the study, researchers from the Copenhagen City Heart Study of Denmark's Frederiksberg Hospital tracked the physical conditions of 1,098 joggers and 413 sedentary non-runners.
After monitoring the participants' health conditions and physical activities, the researchers concluded that those who ran more than seven miles per hour when jogging were at risk of dying early. The researchers noted that jogging for more than three times a week is also harmful to one's health.
According to Dr. Peter Schnohr, a co-author of the study, jogging is considered as a vigorous physical activity. When the body exerts too much force when jogging, this exercise could negatively affect a person's heart.
"It is important to emphasize that the pace of jogging corresponds to very vigorous exercise," he explained in a statement. "When performed for decades, this activity level could pose health risks, especially to the cardiovascular system."
Schnohr and his team, however, noted that the findings of the study do not automatically mean that people should stop jogging. Instead, they could just pace themselves when running to prevent overdoing the exercise.
The researchers emphasized that running one to 2.4 hours a week at an average speed is the best way to lower the risk of developing cardiovascular problems.
"If your goal is to decrease risk of death and improve life expectancy, jogging a few times a week at a moderate pace is a good strategy," the authors wrote in the study. "Anything more is not just unnecessary, it may be harmful."
The report conducted by Schnohr and his team were published in the peer-reviewed Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
