New Study Links Varying How You Exercise With Longer, Healthier Life

When it comes to planning a workout, it can be tempting (and easy) to stick to what’s tried-and-true. Ideally that’s a mix of activities, like strength training and cardio. But new research suggests it’s worth switching up your routine, especially if you want to live a longer, healthier life.

New research published this month in the journal BMJ Medicine connects a varied exercise and movement routine with a healthier, longer life.

Researchers analyzed the lifestyle and health data of more than 111,000 people (70,725 women and 40,742 men) for more than 30 years. Participants self-reported how much time per week they spent doing various activities like walking, jogging, playing racquet sports, swimming laps and weight training. They also recorded how often they did outdoor work like gardening and how many flights of stairs they climbed daily.

Compared to those who reported the least variety of exercises, the people who notched the most variety had a 19% lower risk of premature death. Interestingly, this remained true regardless of how much time people spent exercising.

“From a clinical standpoint, the results of this study reinforce the benefits of not only an active lifestyle, but one that incorporates a diversity of movement,” Dr. Kimberly Burbank, sports medicine fellow in the UCLA Division of Sports Medicine Department of Family Medicine, told Flow Space. “It adds compelling nuance to the well-established connection between physical activity and health outcomes by highlighting that exercise variety, independent of total activity volume, is associated with lower all-cause mortality.”

She pinpointed several reasons why movement variety seemed to correlate with longevity even when people exercised for less total time. First, different activities stress different parts of the body, which could help the body adapt and stay more consistently active by avoiding tissue stress and injuries. Second, certain activities, like high-intensity intervals and strength training, produce a lot of benefits in a shorter amount of time so it’s not necessary to do them as often.

However, it’s important to note that the additional risk reduction happened after participants had already met the bare minimum of recommended exercise, noted Dr. Cara Hall, sports medicine specialist with Keck Medicine of USC. “The largest risk reduction came after meeting 150 minutes of moderate activity or 75 minutes of intense [activity],” she told Flow Space. “After this, adding in variety created a smaller yet statistically significant additional risk reduction, but I would consider it as icing on the cake.”

There are some study limitations to consider: this is a prospective study, so it’s not possible to say the varied exercise routines were the cause of reduced death. Participants also self-reported their activity levels. Plus, Hall mentioned that since the study subjects were comprised of healthcare providers, who may have had better access to resources that would allow them to move more, so the results may not be generalizable to a diverse population.

“Additionally, we may assume that if subjects are healthy, they will likely participate in more activities than those with injuries or comorbidities, thereby confounding the results,” she added.

Why It’s a Good Idea To Vary Your Exercise Routine

Still, there’s a lot of benefit to mixing up how you move, including the fact that different exercises support different physiological functions.

For example, Burbank said that aerobic pursuits like running, walking and cycling are especially great for metabolic and heart health, while resistance training benefits the muscles and joints. Chasing after a tennis ball or playing soccer builds agility, balance, coordination and neuromotor control skills that can help prevent future falls and injuries.

“Overall, diversifying movement patterns may reduce overuse injury risk, particularly when repetitive loading is avoided,” she added. Injecting some novelty into your movement routines is also fun and prevents boredom.

Both Hall and Burbank recommended aiming for a mix of both moderate and strenuous movements in your own exercise routine.

But before you add variety, aim to hit at least these minimum thresholds, per recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): at least 75 minutes of intense or 150 minutes per week, or about 30 minutes per day, of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise, like jogging or brisk walking, plus resistance training at least two times per week. “The most important recommendation is meeting the minimum number of minutes of exercise needed,” said Hall.

Once that’s taken care of, add in a variety of activities that increase your strength, balance, flexibility and aerobic capacity. Add a weekly yoga class, hike with friends, session in the garden or a tennis lesson into your routine alongside daily walks and jogs and twice-weekly strength training sessions.

Keep in mind that not every workout has to be intense and that it’s necessary to leave time for recovery. And don’t worry about doing a ton of different activities. “If every workout is strenuous, a plateau will eventually be reached and above that, we risk injury for no benefit,” explained Hall. “The same goes for variety of activity—after three or four activities there is no more major benefit.”