Combining cardio with strength training and sports, along with a healthy dose of walking, seems to be the best way to structure an exercise routine for living longer, according to a Harvard study of over 100,000 people
Humans are creatures of habit, and once you find an exercise routine you like, it’s unlikely you’ll want to mess with that. After all, for the majority of people, the best form of movement is the one you’ll stick to the most.
But changing things up can keep exercise interesting, and new research suggests that varying your routine could do more than just break up the monotony of hitting the gym — it could help you live longer.
In a study published in the British Medical Journal of more than 100,000 people who reported their physical activity for 30 years, researchers found that variety supports longevity and positive health outcomes.
Of their findings, the researchers most notably discovered that participants who engaged in the highest variety of exercises had a 19% lower risk of premature death compared to those who engaged in the lowest variety — and exercise variety contributed to longevity regardless of how much total time participants spent exercising.
“We speculate that the variety of physical activities means that people are able to take advantage of two or even more dimensions of exercise,” said corresponding author Yang Hu, research scientist in the Harvard T.H. Chan Department of Nutrition. “We want to make the case that it’s possible that the mix of aerobic and resistance or strength training has complementary benefits.”
Why You Should Engage in a Variety of Movement — Even Yardwork
The study, conducted by researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, drew from the Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, which followed participants for over 30 years, incorporating self-reported workout data from 70,725 women and 40,648 men.
Participants reported what type of exercise they did and for how long every few years for three decades, which included walking; jogging; running; bicycling (including stationary); lap swimming; rowing or calisthenics; racket sports; weightlifting and resistance training; lower intensity exercises such as yoga, stretching and Pilates; doing moderate outdoor work, such as yardwork or gardening; doing heavy outdoor work, such as digging or chopping; and climbing stairs.
Researchers then compared deaths from various causes, like heart disease, cancer and respiratory illnesses, to these exercise patterns to determine which were linked to longer life.
Unsurprisingly, they also discovered that people who exercised more on average had anywhere from 4% to 17% lower risk of death during the study period, depending on the type of activity they did, compared to those who exercised less.
Walking was associated with the lowest risk of death at 17% for those who did the most walking, compared with those who did the least, while climbing stairs was associated with a 10% lower risk.
For other activities, researchers observed the following reductions in mortality risk: in tennis, squash, or racquetball 15% lower risk; rowing or callisthenics 14% lower risk; weight training or resistance exercises 13% lower risk; running 13% lower risk; jogging 11% lower risk; and cycling 4% lower risk.
Walking was the most frequent type of leisure physical activity in both groups, while men were more likely to run than women.
“People naturally choose different activities over time based on their preferences and health conditions,” Hu added. “When deciding how to exercise, keep in mind that there may be extra health benefits to engaging in multiple types of physical activity, rather than relying on a single type alone.”
It seems that those drawn to exercise are generally more inclined to maintain healthier habits as well. Participants with higher total physical activity levels were less likely to have health risk factors, including smoking, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. They were also more likely to have a lower weight/BMI, to eat healthier, to be more social and to engage in a broader range of physical activity.
“Keeping up the total amount of activity is still the most important,” said Hu. “But on top of that, maybe you can try to diversify the types of activities you do by trying different things, which may gain you additional benefit.”
It’s important to note that there were several limitations to the study, researchers pointed out, including the potential of errors in self-reported exercise data and the fact that the cohorts were made up primarily of white health professionals.
