This Surprising Type Of Exercise Helps Prevent Cancer, According To Science

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Listen up, cardio lovers. New research from the University of Sydney suggests that aerobic exercise alone isn’t enough to help keep your body cancer-free as you age. In fact, the true power lies in strength training.

The study, which was published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, included data from a whopping 80,000 adults over the age of 30. The researchers accounted for differences in age, health status, diet and other lifestyle factors as they assessed participants’ fitness habits over time. (This is the largest study to date that compares mortality outcomes of different types of exercise.)

They found that the people who did strength training a reasonable two times per week were 31 percent less likely to die from cancer, and their overall likelihood of premature death decreased by 23 percent as well. People who got their cardio on and completed resistance training fared the best out of all the participants, but those who only focused on aerobic exercise didn’t reduce their chances of dying from cancer.

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“The study shows exercise that promotes muscular strength may be just as important for health as aerobic activities like jogging or cycling,” lead author Emmanuel Stamatakis said in a statement. “And assuming our findings reflect cause and effect relationships, it may be even more vital when it comes to reducing the risk of death from cancer.”

Now, this isn’t to say that you should stop going for those morning jogs. Just make sure you add in a few sit-ups and push-ups when you’re done. And luckily, you don’t need access to a big box gym to reap the benefits of strength training. Often times, your body weight provides the perfect amount of resistance in exercises to build muscle and tone the body at the same time.

So when it comes to your workouts, be sure to think about the variety of exercise you’re doing so you can reap all of the life-lengthening benefits it has to offer.