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Variety Is Your Friend<\/p>\n
A prospective cohort study that tracked over 100,000 adults<\/a> for decades found that \u201cthe group with the highest physical activity variety\u2026had a 19% lower all cause mortality and 13-41%\u2009lower mortality from cardiovascular disease, cancer, respiratory disease, and other causes.\u201d <\/p>\n According to the authors, \u201chabitual engagement\u201d across \u201cmost types of physical activity\u201d is a life-extending strategy. Why? Because the benefits of most individual activities plateau after a certain point. There are diminishing returns to doing more and more of the same thing. <\/p>\n But you can stay within the \u201cbeneficial threshold\u201d of several different activities \u2014 and then stack them on top of one another, as you see fit. <\/p>\n Not to mention: different movement patterns accomplish genuinely different things. There\u2019s obviously a split between aerobic exercise and strength training. But even running and cycling have \u201cdifferent ventilatory responses, blood flow, skeletal muscle oxidative capacity, and central and peripheral innervation,\u201d the authors explain. <\/p>\n A commitment to what I\u2019ll call \u201cmovement generalism\u201d helps you cast a wider net, improving a variety of important metrics (e.g., VO2 max<\/a>, grip strength<\/a>, mobility<\/a> and speed<\/a>) while fighting back against the aging surge<\/a> that dogs adults in their late 30s.<\/p>\n Is There a Perfect Activity Stack?<\/p>\n The study looks under the hood of various exercises \u2014 racquet sports, swimming, walking and even gardening \u2014 to determine how each individually contributes to longevity. Tennis punched above its weight again (remember that Copenhagen Heart Study<\/a>?) and so did walking. <\/p>\n Is it possible that a longevity-obsessive could curate a perfect cocktail of movement patterns? Perhaps. But that\u2019s not really the takeaway here. Despite 19% statistic, which is already getting attention<\/a> on social media, I\u2019m not sure the point of \u201cmovement generalism\u201d should be to increase one\u2019s life expectancy. <\/p>\n On the contrary, this study is an excellent invitation to broaden, challenge and casualize your everyday relationship to movement. It makes the case for trying new activities (even if you suck at them<\/a>) and resuscitating ones you abandoned in adulthood. <\/p>\n Movement > Exercise<\/p>\n Ultimately, this approach grants your brain a break, so your main activity doesn\u2019t become a pressure-cooked chore. <\/p>\n It helps you avoid repetitive-use injuries, makes you a more interesting person (suddenly you\u2019re not just talking about running all the time), and also makes you a more social person. Many activities, from volleyball to soccer to golf, require coordination, teamwork and a bit of logistics. That\u2019s healthy stuff in a disconnected age<\/a>. Putting yourself out there could lead to post-game hangouts and friendships. <\/p>\n Movement generalism could even be a self-efficacy<\/a> booster: you increasingly see yourself as someone capable of doing things. Pilates wasn\u2019t so scary. Why not give surfing a shot? <\/p>\n Most importantly, though, a life with all these activities sidesteps the compartmentalization trap, whereby we view exercise as something to be wedged into a 15-to-60-minute box of your otherwise very busy day.<\/p>\n I\u2019d contend that the more you exercise, the less likely you are to call it exercise. You just start to think of it as movement. You start to recognize that playing with your kids is movement. Walking the dogs is movement. Racing for the train, playing Spikeball on the beach or hauling your ass up the stairs are all movement. The more of it you get, the better. You can\u2019t imagine life without it. (And little wonder you get more life as a result.)<\/p>\n I wouldn\u2019t trade my marathon medal for the world. That experience taught me so much about sacrifice, commitment and purpose, and I\u2019ll probably race another one someday. But until then \u2014 and well after that \u2014 I\u2019ll be spreading the wealth, moving in as many ways as I possibly can.<\/p>\n \t\t\tMeet your guide<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tTanner Garrity<\/p>\n Tanner Garrity is a senior editor at InsideHook, where he\u2019s covered wellness, travel, sports and pop culture since 2017. He also authors The Charge, InsideHook\u2019s weekly wellness newsletter. Beyond the newsroom, he can usually be found running, skating, reading, writing fiction or playing tennis. He lives in Brooklyn.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tMore from Tanner Garrity \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tMore Like This<\/p>\n The Charge will help you move better, think clearer and stay in the game longer. Subscribe to our wellness newsletter<\/a> today.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t![\"Tanner](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Tanner-headshot-circle.png\")
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