Short Bursts of Vigorous Physical Activity: Reducing Cancer Risk and More

2023-12-06 12:51:05

The health benefits of exercising are more than proven. Now, scientific studies are opting to provide greater knowledge to issues such as at what level of vigor the body begins to perceive its effects on cardiovascular health, brain health, or even reducing the probability of suffering from cancer.

A study published this year in the scientific journal JAMA Oncology reveals that even short periods of vigorous, intermittent physical activity are associated with a lower risk of cancer. In fact, they suggest that this type of activity could be a promising intervention for cancer prevention in people who find it especially difficult to exercise regularly and sustainably.

Vigorous intermittent physical activity bouts are short periods of strenuous physical activity, usually lasting less than 1 or 2 minutes. Examples of this type of short periods of high intensity are some of the actions that we carry out daily and that we do not notice, such as climbing the stairs quickly, cleaning the windows vigorously or that brief sprint that we do to catch the bus.

In this prospective cohort study, 22,398 adults with a mean age of 62 years were examined. Their data came from the UK Biobank, a huge repository with information on half a million people. All of them had declared not to exercise. The majority were women, 54.8%.

The researchers analyzed the data that these people generated through wearable arm bracelets. The follow-up lasted an average of 6.7 years and provided data corresponding to a sample of 149,650 people per year, on the global incidence of cancer and the incidence of 13 specific cancers associated with a low amount of sport or physical activity.

During the period studied, a total of 2,356 cases of cancer occurred, of which 1,084 were associated with low physical activity. Almost all vigorous physical activity (92.3%) was performed in bouts of up to 1 minute.

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Less than 4 minutes of physical activity a day

The results? Of adults who reported not exercising, a minimum dose of 3.4 to 3.6 minutes of vigorous intermittent physical activity per day was associated with a 17% to 18% reduction in total incident cancer risk compared with no exercise. of these short periods. But, the more periods of physical activity there were, the greater the reduction in cancer risk.

In fact, an average daily bout of vigorous intermittent physical activity of 4.5 minutes was associated with a 31% to 32% reduction in the incidence of physical activity-related cancer. “Therefore, this may be a promising intervention for cancer prevention among people who cannot or are not motivated to exercise in their leisure time,” he says. the job.

Duration of daily activity was almost linearly associated with outcome, wrote researchers led by Dr. Emmanuel Stamatakis of the University of Sydney in Australia. “The results of the study, with an average follow-up of almost seven years, suggest that individuals who engaged in just under 4 minutes a day of sporadic vigorous activity had a 17% lower risk of developing cancer overall,” he said.

Regarding forms of cancer that can be associated with low activity, the researchers found a 28% risk reduction from intermittent daily physical activity. “Even a few minutes of brief, intense physical activity in people with little leisure time activity can reduce their risk of cancer,” the editorial authors stated.

So, with just a few minutes of brief, intense physical activity, people with little leisure time activity can reduce their risk of cancer. Additionally, data from Stamatakis’ research group suggest a relationship between just over 4 minutes of intense physical activity per day and a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and all-cause mortality in both athletes and non-athletes.

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