Meta-Analyses of the Effects of Habitual Running on Indices of Health in Physically Inactive Adults

Abstract

BackgroundIn order to implement running to promote physical activity, it is essential to quantify the extent to which running improves health.ObjectiveThe aim was to summarise the literature on the effects of endurance running on biomedical indices of health in physically inactive adults.Data SourcesElectronic searches were conducted in October 2014 on PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, SPORTDiscus, PEDro, the Cochrane Library and LILACS, with no limits of date and language of publication.Study SelectionRandomised controlled trials (with a minimum of 8 weeks of running training) that included physically inactive but healthy adults (18–65 years) were selected. The studies needed to compare intervention (i.e. endurance running) and control (i.e. no intervention) groups.Study Appraisal and Synthesis MethodsTwo authors evaluated study eligibility, extracted data, and assessed risk of bias; a third author resolved any uncertainties. Random-effects meta-analyses were performed to summarise the estimates for length of training and sex. A dose-response analysis was performed with random-effects meta-regression in order to investigate the relationship between running characteristics and effect sizes.ResultsAfter screening 22,380 records, 49 articles were included, of which 35 were used to combine data on ten biomedical indices of health. On average the running programs were composed of 3.7 ± 0.9 sessions/week, 2.3 ± 1.0 h/week, 14.4 ± 5.4 km/week, at 60–90 % of the maximum heart rate, and lasted 21.5 ± 16.8 weeks. After 1 year of training, running was effective in reducing body mass by 3.3 kg [95 % confidence interval (CI) 4.1–2.5], body fat by 2.7 % (95 % CI 5.1–0.2), resting heart rate by 6.7 min−1 (95 % CI 10.3–3.0) and triglycerides by 16.9 mg dl−1 (95 % CI 28.1–5.6). Also, running significantly increased maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) by 7.1 ml min−1 kg−1 (95 % CI 5.0–9.1) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol by 3.3 mg dl−1 (95 % CI 1.2–5.4). No significant effect was found for lean body mass, body mass index, total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol after 1 year of training. In the dose-response analysis, larger effect sizes were found for longer length of training.LimitationsIt was only possible to combine the data of ten out the 161 outcome measures identified. Lack of information on training characteristics precluded a multivariate model in the dose-response analysis.ConclusionsEndurance running was effective in providing substantial beneficial effects on body mass, body fat, resting heart rate, VO2max, triglycerides and HDL cholesterol in physically inactive adults. The longer the length of training, the larger the achieved health benefits. Clinicians and health authorities can use this information to advise individuals to run, and to support policies towards investing in running programs.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s40279-015-0359-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Supervised physical exercise improves clinical, anthropometric and biochemical parameters in adult cystic fibrosis patients: A 2‐year evaluation

“…Concerning anthropometric data, our study indicates that also in patients with CF, physical exercise has a positive effect on BMI as it has been reported in non‐affected subjects, because in the exercise group there is a significantly lower number of patients with altered BMI. Similarly, in the exercise group we found a significantly lower number of patients with increased waist circumference, indicating that physical exercise in patients with CF has a positive effect on the fat mass and its distribution .…”

Effects of High-Intensity Training of Professional Runners on Myocardial Hypertrophy and Subclinical Atherosclerosis

“…It is controversial whether long-term exposure to intensive training prevents the development of atherosclerosis or promotes healthy vascular remodeling, despite substantial benefits on body mass, body fat and biochemical parameters [8]. In fact, similar degree of subclinical atherosclerosis has been reported between athletes and controls [9,10].…”

The Trend in the Number of Participants From Serbia in the Belgrade Marathon From 2007 to 2019: The Effect of Gender and Age

“…The results of a meta-analysis of numerous scientific studies confirm that long-term running effectively provides positive effects on body weight, body fat percentage, resting heart rate, maximum oxygen consumption, triglycerides and HDL cholesterol in previously inactive adults, and that health effects are greater for those who train longer (Hespanhol Junior, Pillay, van Mechelen, Verhagen, 2015).…”