You may benefit from mixing up your aerobic workouts
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I often say that the key to staying consistent with exercise is finding an exercise you enjoy. You are more likely to move your body if you look forward to doing so. But you should also consider changing it up every now and then. Known as cross-training, varying your exercise routine can greatly improve your fitness and overall health.
In a study published last month, researchers at Harvard University analyzed physical activity data from more than 70,000 women and nearly 41,000 men collected over four decades. They found that participants who did a variety of exercises, such as cycling, running and strength training, were 19 percent less likely to die from any cause during the study period than those who were equally physically active but stuck to one type of exercise. Their risk of dying from heart disease, cancer and other causes was also between 13 and 41 percent lower.
Why is that? Well, exercise improves our health by challenging our body, forcing it to adapt and become stronger. Still, as this study found, the health benefits of most physical activities are at a certain point. For example, participants who walked 5 hours a week were about as likely to die during the study period as those who walked 20 or even 40 hours a week. So, by engaging in various exercises, people may be able to push themselves past these thresholds.
One reason for this is that variety challenges our bodies in new ways. The most obvious example would be to compare aerobic exercises, such as running, with strength training exercises, such as weight lifting. The former primarily stresses our cardiorespiratory system – the heart and lungs – while the latter flexes our muscles and entices them to build back stronger. By combining the two, you can increase both endurance and strength.
But you can also benefit from mixing up your aerobic workouts. For example, a 2018 study of 31 high school runners found that those who swapped two of their easy runs for workouts on an outdoor elliptical used oxygen more efficiently when running at the same pace as those who didn’t switch.
Cross-training also reduces the risk of injury, which can affect longevity. An analysis of nine studies involving a total of nearly 5,000 soccer players found that balance exercises reduced the risk of ankle injury by more than 35 percent compared to training programs without them.
So I encourage you to add some variety to your exercise routine. Last year I ran almost exclusively, and I can tell that other aspects of my fitness, such as my mobility, took a hit. That’s why I now include Pilates and yoga in my exercise routine. Not only will this improve my range of motion and strength, but it may even help me live well into old age.
Grace Wade is a health reporter for New Scientist. You can sign up for her newsletter, Eight weeks to a healthier youat newscientist.com/healthier-you
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