Variety is the spice of life. And it may also help you live longer. It’s well-known regular exercise is good for you. People who exercise are less likely to get disease and tend to live longer than those who don’t. Plus, the more active you are, the greater the benefits. But does it matter how many different exercises you do?
First off, the best exercise, and exercise program, is the one you enjoy doing. If you enjoy it, you’re more likely to do it. It does no good for someone to tell you a certain exercise is good for you if you don’t like it. Second, there is no single ‘best’ exercise to do. Each type of exercise has its own benefits that may be different from another exercise.
Does Variety Matter
Most studies looking at the benefits of exercise group all activities together. These studies collect information of different types of exercise, but when it comes to analyzing the data, all exercise is grouped into one calculation. So that means one minute of running is added to one minute of yoga or one minute of strength training. But that doesn’t mean these activities are all equal. Nor does it mean that one is better than another.
A recent study looked at how the number of different types of activities a person did related to their long-term health. Over 110 000 people were asked what they did from a list of 13 activities. These activities include such things as running, yoga, walking, swimming, calisthenics and weightlifting. Each person also estimated how long they did the activity for.
After approximately 20 years of follow-up, those people with the highest amount of activity had the lowest chances of dying during the study. In addition, the more variety of activities a person did, the lower the chances of dying. Even if two people did the same amount of activity, those who did more different activities were less likely to die during the study.
Why Doing Different Exercises Helps
While doing any single activity is better than doing none, the value in doing different activities is in how they complement each other. No single activity works every muscle in the body or every type of energy system. For example, world-class marathoners have great fitness, but they do not have great upper-body strength. Activities such as running, swimming and cycling focus on muscular endurance and cardiorespiratory fitness, but not on strength and power. These can be improved through explosive and power focused activities (i.e. basketball, tennis, etc.) and strength training.
While this recent study is unique in looking at exercise variety and health, other studies have looked at the value of combining aerobic and strength training exercises. This is because aerobic activities are better at improving cardiorespiratory fitness, while strength training is better at improving strength. Combining these two types of activities into your exercise program can lead to greater satisfaction, reduced risk for heart disease, lower blood pressure, more effective weight loss and longer lifespan
In addition, doing a variety of activities may also prevent over-use injuries that occur with repeated and frequent training of one activity. Variety can also alleviate boredom, which may mean you’re more likely to stick to your exercise program. Plus, there may be social benefits from doing various activities as it gets you exposed to different people and environments.
If you like this post, don’t forget to subscribe to my blog at the bottom of the page.
Enjoy listening to podcasts? Check out my show How to Health. A podcast about you and your health.
Leave a Reply