Doing a mix of exercise every week may be the key to a longer and more healthy life, according to a new American study.
It suggests future health guidelines should promote engagement in a diverse range of activity types, alongside increasing total activity levels.
Research has previously suggested that aerobic exercise improves cardiorespiratory fitness by increasing peak oxygen consumption, but it has little effect on muscular strength. Conversely, resistance training enhances muscular strength without substantially changing peak oxygen consumption. Thus individuals might benefit more from engaging in multiple physical activities with complementary benefits.
Over 111 000 participants who reported engaging in physical activity were followed for 30 years. The cohort comprised over 71 000 women and over 41 000 men. Detailed activity data was collected at the outset in 1986 and thereafter every two years. Activities included walking, jogging, running, cycling, swimming, rowing, tennis and squash. Activities such as weight training, yoga, stretching and gardening were added as the study progressed. In case individuals simply reduced activity because of illness, the researchers stopped updating activity data if participants developed diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, respiratory disease, or neurological problems.
The key finding was that physical activity variety was inversely associated with all cause mortality, so a greater mix of exercise is associated with a longer life. Compared with the reference group, participants ranked highest for both total physical activity and variety had 21% lower mortality.
Up to around 20 hours of activity per week, the team found a lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease, cancer, and respiratory disease then this largely plateaued. (Activities which pushed the resting metabolic rate up more, effectively counted for more hours.)
For cardiovascular disease and respiratory disease mortality, running, tennis, squash, or racquetball, climbing flights of stairs, and weight training or resistance exercises were associated with significantly lower risk.
(Physical activity types, variety, and mortality: results from two prospective cohort studies. BMJ Medicine, 20 January 2026.)
