Get active

You probably know you should be more active, but it's not just for the sake of your heart and lungs.

Many studies show that men who are active are less likely than men who are inactive to get bowel cancer. In addition, being active also helps you to control your weight. And keeping a healthy weight is an important way to reduce your risk of many cancers.

Being active will also help you to:

• Reduce high blood pressure
• Reduce your risk for type 2 diabetes, heart attack and stroke
• Improve mood and energy levels
• Increase fitness and strength
• Improve muscles

For cancer survivors, it is also important to note that being physically active can reduce the risk of the cancer coming back again.

How active do I need to be?

Doing at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity each day will reduce your risk of a number of cancers. If you are already active for 30 minutes a day, you could step up your effort and cut your chances even more. It doesn’t have to be strenuous to be effective. Anything that makes you breathe a little deeper and your heart beat a little faster is ideal. However, more vigorous activity does offer additional benefits. This is the type of activity that will cause you to huff and puff, and make holding a conversation difficult.

Tips for getting fit

• Start with a level of activity that feels achievable, and gradually increase the frequency, time, and intensity. For example, you might begin with 15 minutes of daily activity for the first week, and then increase your time to 20 minutes a day the next week.
• Activities like gardening, walking up the stairs, and playing outside with the kids count too
• Remember, you do not have to do 30 minutes of activity all at once to be healthy. Instead, you can spread small bursts of activity out over the course of the day.

Exercise your options

To get on track and stay on track, you should try different types of exercises and activities. The chart below gives examples of different kinds of physical activity, and describes how each activity is good for you.

For more information, see our Physical Activity Pyramid on page 12 of our Reduce your Risk of Cancer booklet.

For more information on getting active and managing your weight, see Get Ireland Active