New Research: Cross-Training for a Longer Life and Better Runs

Most of us know our running goals shouldn’t just be focused solely on our next PB, especially if we want to be moving our bodies happily decades from now. “More mileage” just isn’t going to cut it—the long game requires some variety, and new research points to cross-training as not only keeping us healthy on the road or trails, but also helping us live longer. A major new analysis published in BMJ Medicine tracked physical activity habits over more than 30 years and revealed a pattern: people who spread their movement across different kinds of activities tended to live longer than people who logged a similar total amount of exercise, but kept doing the same thing over and over. Why “rebounding” might be your new favourite cross-training activity What the research says Over roughly three decades, 100,000 people periodically reported their physical activity (what they did and how long they did it). The researchers then linked those repeated activity reports to mortality data, including deaths from heart disease, cancer and respiratory illness, to identify which long-term exercise patterns were most strongly associated with a longer lifespan. It isn’t a shocker that the people who were more active overall had a lower risk of death during the study period—roughly 4 per cent to 17 per cent lower, depending on the activity, compared with people who did less. The more interesting part is what happened when the researchers looked at how people exercised. Among participants reporting similar total amounts of physical activity, those who did a combination of exercise types had an additional 19 per cent lower risk of death compared with those who stuck to one main routine. Why runners should care about “variety” Running offers major cardiovascular benefits. It’s also repetitive impact, using the same tissues in the same way, over and over. Cross-training lets you keep building fitness while spreading the workload, helping your body adequately recover between running sessions. The study’s activity breakdown is a nice reminder that “running fitness” isn’t only built by running. Vigorous walking was linked to the largest reduction in risk of early death (17 per cent), followed by running (13 per cent), climbing stairs (10 per cent) and resistance training (9 per cent). Swimming didn’t show a measurable benefit in this dataset—possibly because “swimming” can mean anything from floating around to hard laps. The easy upgrade to your training plan You don’t need to reorganize your training schedule or dig deep to reap the benefits uncovered by the researchers. Keep running as your anchor, then add a couple of simple, repeatable options. Aim for two short strength sessions per week, brisk walks on recovery days, stair climbing or another low-impact aerobic session when it fits your schedule.