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Sport and exercise prevent cancer

on Sunday, 19 January 2020.

Sport and exercise prevent cancer

Regular exercise not only keeps you healthy, it has also been proven to make you happy. And: With Sports and exercise can reduce the risk of death by up to 40 percent.

Sport is a real miracle cure. For many Diseases Sport helps and even "normal" regular exercise every day can alleviate illnesses.

In general, people often think that sports medicine is only for active or even professional athletes. However, modern studies involving thousands of test subjects show that physical activity not only significantly improves the daily well-being of every person, but can even reduce mortality and the likelihood of chronic diseases by up to 40 percent.

Regular exercise helps prevent cancer. It is now assumed that physically active people reduce their risk of developing Cancer of developing the disease by an average of 20 to 30 percent. If cancer does occur, patients who exercised regularly before their illness have been shown to have a lower risk of recurrence.

When you exercise, muscle tension is relieved and tiny inflammations in nerves or joints subside more quickly because the body produces anti-inflammatory messenger substances during exercise.

In general, sport has many benefits for the body. It boosts energy levels and helps maintain a healthy body weight. Regular exercise also has positive effects on the psyche, which in turn has an effect on general well-being and the immune system. But sport can do much more: it doesn't just keep us healthy, it can also make us healthy.

Sport and exercise have a wide-ranging positive impact on health:

  • Blood pressure and heart rate drop
  • mobility increases
  • the muscles are strengthened
  • the bones become more stable
  • the heart muscle is strengthened
  • the immune system is activated
  • Excess weight is reduced
  • blood sugar levels drop
  • lung function improves
  • Concentration and memory are strengthened
  • the autonomic nervous system calms down
  • the sense of balance is sharpened

A large number of positive sports studies have repeatedly shown that physical exercise, for example, lowers blood pressure and is therefore just as effective as common blood pressure lowering drugs, such as ACE inhibitors, sartans, beta-blockers or diuretics.

Sport and exercise does not have to be competitive sport

The amount of exercise you should do per week is easy to calculate. The amount of exercise you should do regularly is very individual. Basically, your body tells you what you can and can't do. However, certain rules should always be followed so that you can exercise for as long as possible. Sports scientists recommend at least 600 "MET" per week.

MET is the abbreviation of Metabolic Equivalent of Task, roughly translated this means: metabolic equivalent of performance. 1 MET is the energy you use in one minute while lying down at complete rest. If you move, for example, your energy consumption is doubled and you already reach 2 MET. If you calculate 10 MET for a certain movement, you have therefore achieved ten times the energy consumption compared to lying down. The MET table below makes it easy to read and calculate which activities or combinations of movements will help you reach the recommended 600 MET per week.

Sport and exercise in the evening does not disturb sleep

People often advise against exercising in the evening, but it is during these hours of the day that most people have the most time to be active. Researchers at the University of Zurich in Switzerland have now given the all-clear. They have summarized data from a total of 23 studies. It was clearly shown that moderate exercise in the last four hours before going to bed does not disturb sleep. The proportion of deep sleep, which is crucial for sleep quality, was even greater after exercise.

The Swiss scientists therefore recommend that you only train in the evenings to the extent that you can still talk to a training partner, for example. It is only when things get more strenuous that your sleep can actually be disturbed.

If you want to get into the sport, you should first contact Doctor undergo a thorough health check. In any case, a rest and Stress ECG It is also very important to have an ultrasound examination of the heart (echocardiography). This can rule out risky thickening of the heart wall or other heart diseases such as myocarditis.

intensity of sport and exercise

At least 600 MET of physical activity should be achieved per week. The following types of sport and exercise, or a combination of them, can help with this. For example, if you dance for 30 minutes you will achieve a value of (3 x 30 =) 90 MET. On the other hand, if you cycle intensively for the same amount of time (8 x 30 =) you will achieve 240 MET.

sports

 MET* per minute

lying down quietly 1
skittles, bowling 2
To go for a walk 3
Dancing 3
House work 3,5
Climb stairs 4
ping-pong 4
Walking (5 km/h) 4
cycling (12 km/h) 4
gardening 4,5
Swimming (slow) 4,5
Golf (without electric caddy) 4,5
ergometer, cross trainer 5
tennis 5
running (8 km/h) 6
cycling (18 km/h) 6
swimming (1.500 m/h) 6
strength training on machines 7
Hiking in the mountains 7
Cross-country skiing 7
cycling (24 km/h) 8
running (11 km/h) 11
running (14 km/h) 14