To Live Longer, Make Your Workout A Playdate

EXPERTS LIKE TO SAY THE BEST FORM OF EXERcise is whatever kind youll actually do. But that may not always be the case; new research finds that people who combine exercise with their social lives may be at an advantage over solitary exercisers.

- Jamie Ducharme

The social interaction involved in partner and team sports may compound the plentiful benefits of physical activity, adding more years to your life than solo exercise, according to a study published Sept. 4 in Mayo Clinic Proceedings. Tennis, badminton and soccer are all better for longevity than cycling, swimming, jogging or gym exercise, according to the research.

“For both mental and physical well-being and longevity, we’re understanding that our social connections are probably the single most important feature of living a long, healthy, happy life,” says study co-author Dr. James O’Keefe, a cardio logist at Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute. “If you’re interested in exercising for health and longevity and well-being, perhaps the most important feature of your exercise regimen is that it should involve a playdate.”

The study was based on data from about 8,500 adults who were part of the Copenhagen City Heart Study. They completed a comprehensive health and lifestyle questionnaire, which included questions about type and frequency of physical activity, and were monitored by the researchers for around 25 years, a period during which about 4,500 of the subjects died.

Tennis came out on top in the research. Compared with sedentary people, those who reported playing tennis as their main form of exercise could expect to add 9.7 years to their life span, followed by badminton (6.2 years), soccer (4.7 years), cycling (3.7 years), swimming (3.4 years), jogging (3.2 years), calisthenics (3.1 years) and health-club activities (1.5 years).