A new study has found that short bursts of vigorous physical activity lasting just a few minutes incorporated into daily activities reduce cancer risk. It’s great news for people who don’t have time to – or don’t want to – go to the gym to work out.
Studies have shown the positive effects of vigorous physical activity on reducing the risk of developing cancers. But, for some, taking time out of a busy schedule to exercise is too difficult, too expensive, or just not appealing, despite the health benefits.
That’s where “vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity” (VILPA) might prove to be a more attractive alternative. VILPA refers to brief, sporadic – one- or two-minute – bouts of vigorous physical activity incorporated into everyday activities. Bursts of fast walking, stair climbing, energetic housework, or lugging around heavy groceries, for example.
A new study led by the University of Sydney examined data obtained from wearable fitness trackers to see whether VILPA, a term they coined, affected cancer risk, particularly the risk of physical-activity-related cancers.
“VILPA is a bit like applying the principles of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) to your everyday life,” said Emmanuel Stamatakis, lead author of the study. “We know the majority of middle-aged people don’t regularly exercise, which puts them at increased cancer risk, but it’s only through the advent of wearable technology like activity trackers that we are able to look at the impact of short bursts of incidental physical activity done as part of daily living.”
The study sample comprised 22,398 participants taken from the UK Biobank wrist accelerometry study, all of whom were ‘non-exercisers’; that is, they reported no leisure time exercise and one or fewer recreational walks per week. The mean age of participants was 62, with men making up 45.2% of the sample, and women 54.8%. People with a previous cancer diagnosis or a cancer diagnosis within the first year of the study were excluded. Variables such as age, smoking status, BMI, cardiovascular disease, sleep, diet, and parental cancer history were taken into account.
VILPA was assessed using data taken from wrist-worn trackers over seven days. The median daily average length of VILPA was 4.5 minutes, and the maximum was 16 minutes. For most participants (92.3%), VILPA was accrued in bouts of up to one minute, while 97.3% of all bouts lasted up to two minutes.
The researchers found that over an average follow-up of over six years, there were 2,356 new cancer events, with 1,084 in 13 physical-activity-related cancer sites. These cancers include liver, lung, kidney, stomach, endometrial, myeloid leukemia, myeloma, colorectal, head and neck, bladder, breast, and esophageal.
A minimum of 3.5 minutes of daily VILPA was associated with an 18% reduction in cancer incidence compared to no exercise. Meanwhile, 4.5 minutes a day dropped the incidence of physical activity-related cancer by 32%. The researchers saw the steepest gains in people who did small amounts of VILPA compared to none; however, benefits continued to improve with higher daily levels of VILPA.
“It’s quite remarkable to see that upping the intensity of daily tasks for as little as one minute each is linked to an overall reduction in cancer risk by up to 18%, and up to 32% for cancer types linked to physical activity,” Stamatakis said.
While the study was observational and can’t establish cause and effect, the researchers suggest that the benefits of intermittent vigorous activity on cancer risk are related to improved cardio-respiratory fitness. Other likely contributors include the role physical activity has in improving insulin sensitivity and chronic inflammation.
“We need to further investigate this link through robust trials, but it appears that VILPA may be a promising cost-free recommendation for lowering cancer risk in people who find structured exercise difficult or unappealing,” said Stamatakis.
The study was published in the journal JAMA Oncology.
Source: University of Sydney