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Even with the advancements in the fields of health and medicine, the risks of diseases such as diabetes and cancer are rather high (20% and 15% of all Americans, respectively). These diseases, whether hereditary or developed from personal health problems, are wildly omnipresent and are responsible for millions of deaths per year. The good news, however, is that a recent study by the JAMA Research Center found that High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) throughout one’s daily life will reduce the risk of cancer by about 20%.
HIIT training involves raising one’s physical fitness at random times throughout the day. For example, when walking on a treadmill, nutritionists recommend walking at a moderate speed for about 2 minutes and then raising the speed of the treadmill for 1 minute before returning to moderate speed. These short bursts of vigorous activity are said to get the most beneficial results out of a gym workout. In fact, HIIT can be applied to one’s everyday life too such as walking towards a flight of stairs and then quickly running up the stairs before catching one’s breath (Bonus points if you have groceries in your hands!)
In an experiment by the JAMA Research Center, scientists measured the activity level of 23,000 people who reported on a questionnaire “no leisure time activity”. One group was told to perform HIIT throughout their daily lives by walking quicker or jogging upstairs while the other group was not. Their activity was measured using a wrist accelerometer over a period of 6 years. According to the research center, “those who accelerometers registered 4 minutes of HIIT per day had a 20% lower risk of cancer and showed fewer symptoms in their adult years”.
While these results are not confirmed yet, simply increasing the cardiovascular system by moving quicker has the potential to lead to devastating results. “Even if the results aren’t valid, it is important to increase our physical activity to boost our metabolism and keep our bodies healthy in the long term”, reminds the JAMA Research Center. “A simple lifestyle change goes a long way”.
