Regular physical activity can reduce your risk of breast cancer by as much as 25-30 per cent. Being active also helps keep you fit physically, emotionally and contributes to your social health and well-being.

If you are physically active, you’re more likely to quit or avoid smoking, eat a more balanced diet, and maintain a healthier body weight. Regular exercise combined with other healthier actions, helps to reduce your risk of breast cancer.

It’s never too late to start
Research shows that body weight plays a role in the development of breast cancer. Fatty tissue produces hormones and growth factors that may promote cancer development. Physical activity helps to modify the levels of hormones produced by the body (and it makes you feel good too!)

Women of all ages can benefit from regular exercise. By improving your level of fitness and gaining a healthier body weight, you help to reduce your body’s fatty tissue, modify your hormonal levels, and reduce your risk of breast cancer.

If you are trying to lose weight, a small weight loss helps to reduce your risk of breast cancer. The best approach to weight loss is with regular low-to-moderate physical activity rather than short, intense bursts of occasional activity.

Are you getting enough?
If you are aged 18 to 64, the Canadian Society of Exercise Physiology recommends getting a minimum of 30 minutes per day or 2.5 hours per week of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Push yourself to break a sweat.

Mix up cardio like jogging, walking, and riding your bike with muscle and bone strengthening exercises at least two days per week. Try lifting weights or other strength training exercises that don’t require any special equipment like lunges, sit-ups and pushups.

Once you are active for 30 minutes a day, try to get to 60 minutes. If it helps, break up your exercise into 10-minutes intervals throughout the day.The best way to stay physically active is to choose activities you like and will continue to do. If you like walking, take a brisk walk for 30 minutes a day, five days a week. Hop on your bike, go for a swim, take a dance class or grab the poles and go cross-country skiing. Having trouble trying to juggle your social life and exercise - grab some of your friends to join you!

What you’re already doing It all adds up. You could be getting your exercise right now, just by doing some of these simple activities:

• Get off the bus or streetcar a few stops early and walk the rest of the way
• Take the stairs instead of the escalator/elevator
• Go for a brisk walk or bike ride after meals
• Take regular stretch breaks throughout the day
• Dance with a partner or all by yourself
• Walk the dog (good exercise for both of you!)
• Be a kid and play with your children

Sources

Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology. (2011).Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines.Accessed July 31, 2011.

Johns Hopkins Breast Center – Artemis Bulletin. (October 2003). Exercise and Breast-Cancer Prevention: It's Never Too Late to Start. Accessed July 31, 2011.

Public Health Agency of Canada. Physical Activity Guidelines. Accessed July 31, 2011.

National Cancer Institute. (2008). Delving Deeper into Exercise and Breast Cancer Prevention. In NCI Cancer Bulletin, Oct 21, 2008, Vol. 5, No. 21. Accessed July 31, 2011.

American Cancer Society. (2006). Guidelines on Nutrition and Physical Activity for Cancer Prevention. Accessed July 31, 2011.