What do you know! Slow and steady really does win the race!

Many think you need to go hard and fast to get the most out of your workout, but a new study has proven that runners who take it slower actually end up living longer. Hmm… haven’t we heard this story before? It turns out there’s more truth to the tale of the tortoise and the hare than we originally thought.

A study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology looked at the data of over 1,000 joggers and 4,000 non-joggers, all of which were healthy men and women from a range of age groups. After ten years, the researchers analysed the information and divided the subjects into three key groups: light, moderate and strenuous joggers. Unsurprisingly, they found that joggers had a higher life expectancy to non-joggers, but in news that might shock you; they discovered that light joggers actually had the lowest rate of mortality, which was followed by moderate joggers. Shockingly, the strenuous jogger group tied for third place with the non-joggers.

Follow Eva Longoria's regime and take a slow jog on the beach to help along that muscle tone.

So what should I be doing? From the data collected, the scientists and fitness professionals could conclude that joggers who truly want to get the most out of their runs should hit the pavement two to three times a week at a slow pace, covering a distance of only 1.6km – 3.8km. Sounds easy enough!

But what if you hate jogging? Scroll down to find out an easy alternative!