Running can help to reduce joint and muscle pain in later life

Want another reason to love running? A new study has shown that doing vigorous exercise, such as running, at least once a week can help to lower your risk of bone, muscle and joint pain in later life.

The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Portsmouth and published in Plos One, gathered data from 5,802 Brits aged 50 and above over a 10-year period. At the end of the research period, around half of participants said that they suffered with bone, joint or muscle pain.

The study found that the key to staving off joint pain with age was vigorous activity, as opposed to moderate exercise.

Dr Nils Niederstrasser, who led the study, said that chronic pain is one of the most widespread and complex problems in the medical community. ‘It leads, for many who suffer with it, to a lower quality of life and poor wellbeing,’ he says.

‘It’s well known that pain tends to be more common as we age, so it’s vital we look at what might help prevent and reduce it.’

While the results found that partaking in any type of physical activity helped to lower the chances of suffering from pain – as opposed to being sedentary – high levels of physical exercise were linked in particular to lower cases of musculoskeletal pain. ‘Activity needs to not only be vigorous – it needs to be done at least once a week,’ notes Niederstrasaser.

‘Vigorous’ activity, according to the researchers, encompasses things like running, swimming and playing tennis. The study categorised activities like dancing and walking, meanwhile, as moderate forms of exercise which do not deliver the same results when it comes to reducing joint pain.