{"id":720,"date":"2026-05-01T12:20:01","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T09:20:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.life-on.com.ua\/?p=720"},"modified":"2026-05-01T12:31:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T09:31:20","slug":"exercise-variety-bmj","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.life-on.com.ua\/en\/exercise-variety-bmj\/","title":{"rendered":"Why One Run Isn't Enough: 30 Years of BMJ Data on Variety and Longevity"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>A large BMJ Medicine study of 111,000 people over 30+ years showed that exercise variety reduces the risk of death independently of the total volume. A bonus is that the benefits aren't endless. There's a saturation point.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What have [they\/you] done<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Data from two large Harvard cohorts were combined: the Nurses\u2019 Health Study (nurses, from 1986) and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (male health professionals, from 1986). A total of 111,467 participants. At the start, all were healthy: free of diabetes, cardiovascular, oncological, respiratory, and neurological diseases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Every two years, a survey on physical activity: walking, running, swimming, cycling, tennis\/squash, rowing, and calisthenics, strength training, yoga\/stretching, gardening, climbing stairs. Over 30 years, 38,847 deaths were recorded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Activity was counted in MET-hours per week. MET is the factor by which an activity is more energy-consuming than resting. Brisk walking is about 3.5 METs, running at 8 km\/h is about 8 METs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Different species - different effects<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The most active participants in each category were compared with the least active. If a person walks a lot on a regular basis over many years, their risk of death is 17% lower than that of people who hardly walk at all. The other categories yielded the following figures:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Tennis, squash, rackets: \u221215%<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Rowing or calisthenics: \u221214%<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Strength training: \u221213%<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Running: \u221213%<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Jogging: \u221211%<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Climbing the stairs: \u221210%<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Bicycle: \u22124%<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Swimming, surprisingly, did not demonstrate a significant reduction in risk in the primary analysis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is important to understand what these percentages mean. It is not a case of \u201cstarted running \u2013 minus 13%\u201d. This is a comparison of extremes \u2013 many years of regular exercise versus almost no exercise at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Main discovery: diversity<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Separate layer of analysis: participants were divided by how many different types of activity they engaged in. Not \u201chow many in total\u201d, but \u201chow many types\u201d. The most varied group versus the least varied \u2014 <strong>after adjusting for overall training volume<\/strong> \u2014 had a 19% lower risk of death from all causes. And a 13% to 41% lower risk of death from cardiovascular, cancer and respiratory causes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The key is \u201cafter adjusting for volume\u201d. This means diversity provides a benefit on its own, additionally. Not \u201cwhoever does more different things automatically does more, and therefore dies less.\u201d But rather \u201cat the same training volume, whoever combines several types dies less often than someone who does only one type.\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Saturation point is around 20 MET-hours<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The relationship is not linear. The benefit from total training volume plateaus at around 20 MET-hours per week. This is approximately:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>5-6 hours of brisk walking per week<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Or 2.5 hours of running<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Or a combination of several types<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For context: the WHO recommends a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate activity per week - that's around 12 MET-hours. This means that even doubling the WHO's recommendation is already in the plateau zone. Running for 4 hours every day no longer brings additional benefits for mortality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What this research does not prove<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is an observational study. It shows associations, not causation. Limitations to bear in mind:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Activity is self-reported, not an objective measure. People systematically overestimate or underestimate their activity. MET estimates were calculated assuming full engagement in an activity; in practice, intensity varies. Almost all participants were white, limiting the applicability of the findings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The most significant limitation is that more active participants were generally healthier: they smoked less, had lower blood pressure, ate better, and had a wider social circle. It is difficult to separate the \u201ceffect of diversity itself\u201d from the \u201ceffect of a generally healthy lifestyle\u201d, even with the best statistical adjustments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Honest wording of the finding: <strong>People with a wider range of activities have a lower mortality rate, and this association remains after adjusting for volume<\/strong>. No more and no less.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Which of these is useful?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Three things remain independent of restrictions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Walking is the most democratic tool.<\/strong> The highest indicator among individual types of activity. No need to run \u2013 walk, and add something on top.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>If there are 4-5 hours a week, it's better to spread them across different activities.<\/strong> Strength training plus walking plus something playful (tennis, badminton, swimming, basketball with friends) works better than the same 4-5 hours of just strength training or just running.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Saturation point \u2013 around 20 MET-hours.<\/strong> This is achievable for anyone who doesn't train professionally. Trying to do twice as much doesn't bring proportionally greater benefits for life expectancy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The principle of diversity is one of the foundations of how I <a href=\"https:\/\/www.life-on.com.ua\/en\/for-athletes\/\">I am building the life:)on platform for active people<\/a>A variety of workouts, progress tracking, locations, and events all in one place \u2013 not ten separate apps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Sources<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Han H, Hu J, Lee DH, et al. Types of physical activity, variety, and mortality: results from two prospective cohort studies. <em>BMJ Medicine<\/em>. 2026;5(1):e001513. <a href=\"https:\/\/bmjmedicine.bmj.com\/content\/5\/1\/e001513\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">doi:10.1136\/bmjmed-2025-001513<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>BMJ Group Press Release: <a href=\"https:\/\/bmjgroup.com\/mix-of-different-types-of-physical-activity-may-be-best-for-longer-life\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">bmjgroup.com<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>ScienceDaily Review <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedaily.com\/releases\/2026\/04\/260426012305.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">sciencedaily.com<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Vitalii<\/strong> <em>Founder of life:)on<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A major BMJ Medicine study of 111,000 people over 30+ years showed: training diversity reduces the risk of death independently of the total volume. A bonus \u2013 the benefits are not endless. There is a saturation point. What they did: combined data from two large Harvard cohorts: the Nurses\u2019 Health Study (nurses, from 1986) and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (male health professionals, from 1986). A total of 111,467...<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":719,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.life-on.com.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.life-on.com.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.life-on.com.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.life-on.com.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.life-on.com.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=720"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.life-on.com.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/720\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":725,"href":"https:\/\/www.life-on.com.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/720\/revisions\/725"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.life-on.com.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.life-on.com.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.life-on.com.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.life-on.com.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}