When it comes to exercise, don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Research suggests that engaging in a variety of physical activities each week is key to improving your health and living longer.

After tracking the weekly exercise habits of 110,000 men and women in the United States for 30 years, researchers found that active people who did the most varied exercise were 19% less likely to die during that time than those who concentrated on one activity.

The effect was greater than for individual sports such as walking, tennis, rowing, and jogging.

Experts say that while total physical activity remains important, engaging in a variety of activities that you enjoy can provide many benefits.

“Each one offers something different.”

Maddy Albon, 29, a global marketing manager who lives in London, does triathlons in her free time, but that’s just for beginners.

Her other sports include tennis, spin classes, yoga, Pilates, and weightlifting.

“Each exercise offers something different,” she says.

“To get better at one sport, you need variety. To get better at running, you need weight training.”

As well as the physical health benefits, Maddie from New Zealand has discovered that combining different activities can also improve your mood.

“Sometimes I don’t have the energy for an intense session, so doing yoga to relax and unwind is really helpful for my mental health.”

“It’s great to have other options to move your body and dedicate that time to yourself,” she told the BBC.

Maddie started triathlon last year and said she would like to try a team sport that would allow her to be “a little more social” than the exercise she currently does.

It is already known that being active is beneficial for physical and mental health and helps reduce the risk of developing many diseases that affect the heart, blood vessels, and lungs. Exercise can also reduce changes in early death from some cancers.

“Maintaining high levels of total physical activity is important, and in addition, diversifying the types of activity may be more beneficial,” said lead author of the study, Dr. Yan Hu of the Harvard School of Public Health. Published in the journal BMJ Medicine.

“Combine activities that offer complementary health benefits” [such as resistance training and aerobic exercise] It could be very useful,” he added.

NHS advice It says adults between the ages of 19 and 64 should aim to:

• Do strengthening activities that work all your major muscles at least two days a week.

• 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity or 75 minutes of vigorous activity per week

• Spread it evenly 4-5 days a week

• Don’t spend too much time sitting, lying down, or moving

Aerobic exercise increases your heart rate and makes you breathe faster. These include brisk walking, biking, tennis, dancing, hiking, and mowing the lawn.

When you exercise vigorously, your breathing becomes heavier and faster. Examples include running, swimming, soccer, hockey, gymnastics, and climbing stairs.

Exercises that strengthen your muscles include yoga, weight lifting, tai chi, sit-ups, vigorous gardening, and carrying heavy shopping bags.

The study asked more than 70,000 nurses aged 30 to 55 and 40,000 healthcare professionals aged 40 to 75 to provide information about their weekly activities, including walking, jogging, running, cycling, swimming, rowing, tennis and squash.

They filled out a questionnaire every two years that included how much weight training, low-intensity exercise such as yoga, and other activities such as gardening and climbing stairs.

Researchers crunched the numbers and found that most types of exercise reduce the risk of death from any cause. But those who participated in the widest combination of activities did even better.

Their risk of death from cancer, heart disease, lung disease, and other causes was 13 to 41 percent lower than the rest of the population.

The study also found that six hours of moderate exercise or three hours of vigorous exercise each week was the optimal amount of exercise, after which the effects leveled off.

Although this study was large and physical activity was measured repeatedly, the study has limitations. Although we tried to take into account various lifestyle factors, we cannot rule out the possibility that people’s health influenced their exercise rather than the other way around.