Watch Out, Runners! Jogging Too Much Is Just As Bad As Not Exercising

Listen up, gym bunnies and bros: You could be exercising yourself right into the grave.

While it seems as if every day brings a new study about how our lifestyles are killing us, research from Copenhagen, Denmark's Frederiksberg Hospital shows excessive fitness is just as bad for you as chronic couch potato syndrome.

Beginning in 2001, the team tracked data from 1,098 joggers and 3,950 healthy people who didn't run for a period of 12 years.

Of the group, those who ran between one and 2.4 hours per week had the lowest mortality rate, while people who exercised more than four hours per week or didn't work out at all were most likely to die early.

So, take a step back from all those Instagram "fitspiration" accounts telling you there are no excuses not to go for a run. The answer, it seems, is moderation.

The team recommends going for a 50-minute run or brisk walk about three times a week to keep yourself healthy.

Researcher Jacob Louis Marott added,

You don't actually have to do that much to have a good impact on your health. And perhaps you shouldn't actually do too much. No exercise recommendations across the globe mention an upper limit for safe exercise, but perhaps there is one.

The takeaway: Skip the gym for just one night and go get dinner with friends instead.

It's good for your health.

Citations: Too much jogging as bad as no exercise at all (BBC News )