Frighteningly, every 2 minutes someone is diagnosed with cancer in the UK. Surely it makes sense for us to take every means possible that are under our control to minimise our risk of getting certain cancers. Well the good news is that research now shows us that for certain types of cancers that taking regular exercise significantly reduces the chances of contracting the disease.
Two of the cancers where significant research has been taken out on the effects of exercise in preventing the disease are colon and breast cancer:
Colon Cancer
Colon cancer has been extensively studied in relation to physical activity. Many studies have constantly found that taking between 30-60 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise everyday can reduce the risk of developing colon cancer by 30-40%. Putting this in perspective, 41,142 people died from bowel cancer in 2009. That’s a lot of people who maybe, through taking regular exercise, may not have developed the condition.
Breast Cancer
Breast Cancer research and physical activity shows a wide variation in the effectiveness of exercise in the prevention of this condition. Studies show risk reduction from 20-80%. Clearly more research needs to be done to identify what level and duration of exercise is optimum to reduce the risk of developing breast cancer. However clearly exercise is highly beneficial to reducing a person’s risk and interestingly some studies suggest women who increase their exercise after the menopause may also experience a reduced risk as opposed to inactive women. Clearly it’s never too late to get exercising more!
Summary
Clearly taking regular exercise can only help in reducing a person’s chance of developing certain cancers. I am sure in several years’ time there will be overwhelming evidence for the effectiveness of regular exercise regarding reducing a person’s chances of developing more cancers than mentioned here. The real question is, do you have the motivation to get out there and get exercising? What I hear is the same old excuse “I am too busy Adam, I just don’t have the time”. Well that excuse is a load of ****. I know a Chief Finance Officer, who is 50 and works more hours than most, who manages to get up half an hour earlier each day to get his jog in for the day. If time is your excuse then you do not deserve to be healthy. I can help you get fit with 1 to 1 Personal Training sessions or Bootcamps that I run in Bedford.
Adam