CANCER AND LIFTING WEIGHTS

The National Foundation for Cancer Research identified that by strength training twice a week, the likelihood of dying from cancer was dramatically reduced by 31%. In fact, the overall likelihood for any type of premature death from any disease was decreased by 23%.

In addition, the research identified that lifting weights was a key factor in preventing cancer, as it aids in lowering the levels of hormones such as estrogen and insulin. This is beneficial because increased levels of these hormones have been proven to correlate with cancer development and progression.

Research identified that training also helped in reducing inflammation and improving the immune system, which allows the body to properly function and ward off disease. Keeping an active lifestyle even when diagnosed with cancer can yield positive outcomes. It slows weight gain, which is a common side effect of treatment. Incorporating exercise into one’s daily routine has also been found to decrease the likelihood of remission in some cancers, such as breast cancer.

www.nfcr.org/blog/cancer-prevention-which-type-of-exercise-lowers-your-risk

The Victorian Cancer Council recommends that people with cancer should exercise.

Recent research suggests that exercise benefits most people both during and after cancer treatment. It can help manage some of the common side effects of treatment speed up your return to your usual activities and improve your quality of life. The evidence also shows there is little risk of exercise causing harm if care is taken and professional exercise advice is followed closely. For some cancers, exercise has been shown to even improve treatment outcomes.

www.cancervic.org.au/living-with-cancer/exercise/exercise-overview

Other studies from the German Cancer Research Centre, T Cell Metabolism Group, led by Guoliang Cui, identified how the cancer and body’s virus killing T cells were able to hide inside muscle tissue, enabling them to regenerate and then go out and destroy cancer cells or viruses, making them more effective.

The research was published in the journal “Science” on the 12th June 2020 by Wu et al, and discusses how the T cells are sheltered from chronic inflammation inside muscle tissue, and how the T cells appear to maintain their strength and don’t become exhausted.

The research also discussed how these benefits were identified as being present with strength training but not observed when other types of exercise were undertaken.

Although this study is in its infancy it demonstrates how lifting weights has a profound impact on our body's ability to fight off illness, compared to other forms of popular exercise.