New study reveals that exercise is socially contagious

When it comes to exercise, you may want to keep your friends close. A new study published in Nature Communications revealed that exercise is socially contagious, observing that exercise data shared on social networks influenced the exercise habits of people who saw them.

For the study, researchers Sinan Aral and Christos Nicolaides of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology analyzed data from an unnamed global social media network. The data came from 1.1 million users who shared their running information on the network over four years, via a variety of fitness tracking devices and apps. These devices tracked their running time, speed, duration, and other stats, and posted the information automatically when connected to the social media platform.

The researchers observed that people ran further and faster when their friends did so. More specifically, they found that an extra kilometer run by a person resulted in an additional 0.3 kilometer for his or her friends. In the same way, an additional 10 minutes run by a person resulted in three minutes added running time among that person’s social circle. They also found that an extra 10 calories burned by a friend leads to 3.5 extra calories off for friends. This contagion, however, lessened over time.

The level of influence a person has changed depending on their gender and how active they are, the researchers said. Less active runners were found to be more influential than their more active counterparts. At the same time, men are influenced by both men and women, while women are only influenced by other women.

“This may be due to gender differences in the motivations for exercise and competition. For example, men report receiving and being more influenced by social support in their decision to adopt exercise behaviors, while women report being more motivated by self-regulation and individual planning. Moreover, men may be more competitive and specifically more competitive with each other,” Aral and Nicolaides said.

The benefits of going social

Whether it’s through seeing their exercise habits on social media, or working out with them in real life, friends can be the most powerful motivators when it comes to exercise. An article in Shape.com cited a study that compared people who joined a weight loss program with friends, and those who did it alone. The study found that 95 percent of those who did the program with friends completed it, a much higher rate compared to the 76 percent for those who went through the program alone. Furthermore, those who did the program with friends were 42 percent more likely to maintain their weight, the study said.

Another study by researchers from Oxford’s Institute of Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology observed members of the Oxford rowing team, comparing those who trained with a group with those who trained alone. The athletes who trained in a group were found to have a higher pain threshold post-workout than those who exercised solo. A higher pain threshold indicates a higher level of endorphins, the hormones that are released during physical activity and are responsible for what is called “runner’s high”. The researchers found that “synchronized physical activity elevates mood and enhances a sense of social bonding”, taking note of other social activities such as laughter, music, and shared religious rituals that produce the same euphoric effect.

Evidently, no man is an island — especially when it comes to working out. Social workouts such as CrossFit, Acroyoga, dance classes, competitive sports, and group running or biking are open to anyone who needs to give their workout a friendly boost. But even those who prefer working out alone can socially supercharge their exercise – all they have to do is go online.

Get more fitness and weight loss tips and news on Slender.news.

Sources include:

Nature.com
Shape.com
RSBL.RoyalSocietyPublishing.org

Runners found to have an increased lifespan of 3 years, says new study

Going for a run isn’t something that most Americans like to do, but if more people did it they’d live longer. Up to three years longer, on average, in fact, according to a new study.

The New York Times is reporting that people who run an hour a day can add an additional seven hours to your life, per day.

In fact, going for a daily run is believed to be the most effective way to boost overall life expectancy, a new review and analysis of existing research regarding premature exercise and death has concluded.

“The new study found that, compared to nonrunners, runners tend to live about three additional years, even if they run slowly or sporadically and smoke, drink or are overweight,” the Times reported, citing the findings. “No other form of exercise that researchers looked at showed comparable impacts on life span.” (Related: Read If You Hate Running Sprints, This Study Is For You.)

That would include gym rats who love to lift weights, do aerobics, yoga and crossfit, presumably, based on findings.

Three years ago a group of distinguished research scientists published a study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology after analyzing a large body of data collected from the Cooper Institute in Dallas, which had conducted medical and fitness tests on subjects. The analysis of that body of data found that people who only ran five minutes a day had longer lifespans, on average.

Following the release of that study, the scientists were deluged with questions from colleagues and the public, says Duck-chul Lee, a kinesiology professor at Iowa State University, one of the just-released study’s co-authors. Among the queries, scientists and members of the public asked if other physical activities, including walking, were equally beneficial as running was to prolonging life.

Some others wanted to know if running actually did prolong lifespans, the Times noted, in a significant way. “Could it be, they asked rather peevishly, that if, in order to reduce your risk of dying by a year, you had to spend the equivalent of a year’s worth of time on the trails or track, producing no discernible gain?” the paper reported.

That spurred the research team to launch a new study, published in Progress in Cardiovascular Disease, aimed at answering these and other questions. In taking a fresh new look at the Cooper Institute data, as well as additional large studies conducted and published in recent years, to determine any correlation between exercise and longer life, Lee and his team found that their earlier conclusions were reinforced.

Taken together, all of the available data indicated clearly that running – no matter the pace or distance ran – diminished a person’s risk of premature death by nearly 40 percent, versus other forms of exercise. And that finding held even for runners who smoked, drank alcohol or had health challenges like high blood pressure or obesity.

The Times noted further:

Using those numbers, the scientists then determined that if every non-runner who had been part of the reviewed studies took up the sport, there would have been 16 percent fewer deaths over all, and 25 percent fewer fatal heart attacks. (One caveat: the participants in those studies were mostly white and middle class.)

The demographics of the study are important to note because the results may not be consistent across ethnicities or for people in different socioeconomic classes. But the results are encouraging, nonetheless. (Related: Read Runners And Foot Injuries: What May Be Causing It.)

One of the more interesting aspects of the most recent study is scientists estimated that running statistically adds more time to a person’s lifespan, hour for hour, than it takes away. In calculating 2 hours of running per week – the average reported by those who participated in the Cooper Institute study – the research team figured that a classic runner spends less than six months actually running over 40 years’ time, but could nevertheless expect to boost life expectancy by 3.2 years, leaving a net gain of 2.8 years.

Thus, they concluded, the time running was well spent.

Researchers found that other forms of exercise, including walking, biking and aerobics – provided they involved the same degree of exertion – also cut the risk of premature death by some 12 percent.

Learn more at MensFitnessFocus.com and WomensFitnessFocus.com.

J.D. Heyes is a senior writer for NaturalNews.com and NewsTarget.com, as well as editor of The National Sentinel.

Sources include:

NYTimes.com

MensFitnessFocus.com