To Live Long, Pick Up A Racquet

Regularly playing racquet sports such as squash, badminton and tennis could help stave off death the longest, a new study suggests. Scientists have narrowed down the sports and types of exercise that are linked to significantly lower odds of dying before those who do not do those activities. Racquet sports, swimming, aerobics and cycling seem to be the best for prolonging life, the research concluded. The study, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, examined more than 80,000 adults across England and Scotland who took part in national health surveys between 1994 and 2008. Only 44% were getting the recommended amount of weekly exercise. Researchers also tracked participants’ survival for an average of nine years following completion of the survey – 8,790 of them died from all causes including 1,909 from cardiovascular diseases. After taking into account influential factors, the authors of the paper identified which sport or exercise seemed to be the most beneficial. Compared with the participants who said they had not done a given sport, they found that risk of death from any cause was 47% lower among those who played racket sports; 28% lower among swimmers; 27% lower among those who took part in aerobics classes; and 15% lower among cyclists. No such associations were seen for runners or joggers and those who played football.