‘Nasty little’ amount of exercise every day lowers cancer risk: fitness expert

Exercising a “disgustingly small” amount a day can lower your risk of cancer, according to a fitness expert.

Nutrition scientist and professional bodybuilder Dr. Layne Norton claimed that “four minutes of vigorous activity a day” will greatly reduce an individual’s risk of cancer.

“Exercise is one of the only things you can do, regardless of weight loss, that will improve all of your health parameters,” Norton told host Dr. Rhonda Patrick on the FoundMyFitness podcast last week.

Citing a study published last year in JAMA Oncology, Norton said researchers found that “vigorous physical activity” done “cumulatively” throughout the day can lower cancer risk by 20%.

“I got in trouble for calling it a disgusting little amount, but it really is,” the fitness expert said.

He went on to reveal that the study found that exercising for “10 minutes” a day reduced the risk of cancer by 30%.

The study also found that just three short workouts a day can lead to a 40% reduction in the risk of cancer and cancer death and a 50% reduction in death from heart disease.

“If you just go briskly walking for 30 minutes a day, you’re killing it,” the nutrition scientist said.

While some may question the findings because it was a “cohort study,” Norton was quick to point out that “randomized control trials” have found similar indications for exercise and cancer risk.

“We have randomized control trials looking at very short bursts of exercise, seeing improvements in glucose metabolism, blood lipids, inflammation, and then now cognitive things,” Norton said.

The fitness guru also revealed that short bouts of exercise have been shown to improve mental health.

He explained that the “randomized control trial” found that men with “major depressive disorder or generalized anxiety disorder” who did two 25-minute resistance training sessions per week for eight weeks saw “significantly improved symptoms”. .

“The effect size for major depressive disorder was 1.7,” Norton said, citing a study published last year in Psychiatry Research.

“For those unfamiliar with effect sizes, .2 is a small effect size, .5 is modest, and .8. Anything above 0.8 is considered large, 1.7 is massive,” Norton said.

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) — a class of drugs commonly prescribed to treat depression — typically fall between 0.3 and 0.8, and “the best you see is around 0.8,” he said.

The pro bodybuilder clarified that he wasn’t suggesting that people stop taking their SSRIs instead of working out, but consider other additional options to add to treatment — like exercise.

“I’m not saying we should get rid of SSRIs and make everyone exercise, because sometimes someone needs an SSRI just to get out of bed and actually go exercise, Norton said. “But if we’re looking at how powerful that leverage is, that’s amazing.”

However, nutrition scientists understand that starting an exercise routine can be challenging and suggest that listeners think of it as “brushing your teeth.”

“So you feel motivated to brush your teeth? No, you do it because you know if you don’t brush your teeth, they’re going to go to shit,” Norton said. “The same thing happens to your body if you don’t exercise.”

According to Johns Hopkins cardiologist Dr. Seth Martin, the average resting heart rate is between 60 and 100 beats per minute (BPM).

The “sweet spot” for exercise depends on a person’s age, and target heart rates are “usually between 50 percent and 85 percent” of your maximum safe heart rate.

For a 50-year-old, it is essential to calculate the maximum heart rate, which can be obtained by subtracting the age from 220. In this case, it is 170 BPM, Martin said.

If one is aiming for a 50% effort level, their target should be 50% of that maximum, 85 BPM.

However, if a person wants to push themselves to 85% of their maximum, their target should be 145 BPM.

The target heart rate a 50-year-old should aim for while exercising is 85 to 145 BPM.

Martin noted that it’s important not to “obsess over the numbers” and instead try to exercise regularly.