Variety equals longevity.
It’s well established that regular exercise contributes to overall health and can reduce the risk of premature death, defined as death before the age of 75.
Recently, however, researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found an interesting link between a specific exercise strategy and longevity.
It would seem the more types of movement you can muster, the less likely you are to die before your time.
Publishing in BMJ Medicine last month, the team was among the first to study how the diversity of exercise impacts mortality, looking at data from over 111,000 adults over three decades.
Participants reported how much time per week they spent engaging in different types of exercise: walking, jogging, biking, rowing, playing racket sports, weight lifting, resistance training, yoga, and other low-intensity exercises, as well as moderate to heavy outdoor work.
After adjusting for health and lifestyle variables, the authors found that those who engaged in the highest variety of exercises had a 19% lower risk of premature death than those who engaged in the lowest variety.
This association was consistent across intensity levels, suggesting that exercise diversity contributed to longevity regardless of how much time was actually spent exercising.
The team acknowledged some limitations of their study: Exercise data were self-reported, and the majority of participants were white health professionals.
Still, they are hopeful their study will provide a helpful guideline for those looking to live long and prosper.
“People naturally choose different activities over time based on their preferences and health conditions. 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,” said author Yang Hu, research scientist in the Department of Nutrition.
A study published last year in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that just 75 minutes of moderate-intensity physical exercise per week was associated with a 17% decrease in cardiovascular disease risk, a 7% drop in cancer risk, and a 23% reduction in the risk of early death.
Some examples of moderate-intensity physical activity include gardening, ballroom dancing, yoga, mowing the lawn, water aerobics, and taking a brisk walk — “brisk” being moving at least 2.5 miles per hour.
The good news about exercise keeps on coming; building on previous research, a study published last month shows that exercise can treat symptoms of depression as effectively as medication and talk therapy.
