A new study by researchers from the University of Sydney, Australia displayed that only four to five minutes of “vigorous physical activity” may have the ability to reduce cancer risk significantly even among individuals who have been generally inactive.

Data from 22,398 non-exercising adults averaging 62 years of age were analyzed by having them wear activity trackers on their wrists over a seven-day duration, after which researchers then looked at cancer-related diagnoses, hospitalizations, and deaths for the participants for the past several years. 

Those who partook in daily vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity (VILPA) for about an average of 4.5 minutes per day were revealed to have a 32% reduced risk of “physical activity-related cancer incidence”, including kidney, stomach and lung cancers, according to the study that based it on 6-7 years of medical records. 

VILPA is defined by the study authors as “brief and sporadic bouts of vigorous physical activity during daily living", such as climbing stairs, carrying heavy grocery bags, completing physical household tasks, and playing high-energy games with children.

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According to the study published in the journal JAMA Oncology, those who exercised 3.4 to 3.6 minutes daily showed that the risk of cancer was reduced by 17% to 18%. However, those who received a previous cancer diagnosis were excluded. 

Factors including age, BMI, heart disease history, sleep habits, diet, family cancer history, and smoking status were adjusted for, as lead author Emmanuel Stamatakis, a professor at the Charles Perkins Centre at the University of Sydney, released a statement in a press release. 

“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,” he said. 

“It’s quite remarkable to see that upping the intensity of daily tasks for as little as four to five minutes a day, done in short bursts of around 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,” he continued. 

“The potential impact on cancer prevention and a host of other health outcomes is enormous,” adding: “VILPA is a bit like applying the principles of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) to your everyday life,” said Stamatakis.

The authors believe that this is the first study of its kind to associate VILPA with cancer, although there were some limitations such as the fact that 96% of the adults analyzed were White, alongside the fact that the study was observational and is not intended to prove a causational connection.

Furthermore, the original screening questions about their activity levels were responded to about 5.5 years before they wore the fitness trackers.

Stamatakis emphasized: “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". 

“We are just starting to glimpse the potential of wearable technology to track physical activity and understand how unexplored aspects of our lives affect our long-term health,” he added. 

A similar study was done last year in June that showed that increasing the amount of moderate activity from less than three minutes per day to at least 14 minutes could reduce the risk of stroke by more than 40%.

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