Fitness

The ‘disgustingly small’ amount of exercise each day that slashes the risk of cancer: fitness expert

Published

2 years ago

September 4, 2024

The ‘disgustingly small’ amount of exercise each day that slashes the risk of cancer: fitness expert

Exercising a “disgustingly small” amount per day can lower the risk of cancer, according to a fitness expert.

Nutritional scientist and professional bodybuilder Dr. Layne Norton claimed that “four minutes of vigorous activity a day” will greatly reduce an individual’s cancer risk.

“Exercise is one of the only things that you can do, independent of weight loss, that will improve all your health parameters,” Norton told host Dr. Rhonda Patrick on the FoundMyFitness podcast last week.

Citing a study published last year in JAMA Oncology, Norton said that researchers found that “vigorous physical activity” done “cumulative” throughout the day can lower the risk of cancer by 20%.

“I got in trouble because I called it a disgustingly small amount, but it really is,” the fitness expert shared.

He went on to reveal that the study found that exercising for “10 minutes” daily dropped the risk of cancer by 30%.

The study also found that just three short bursts of exercise per day can lead to a 40% reduced risk of cancer and cancer death and a 50% reduction in heart disease death.

“If you just go walk vigorously for 30 minutes in a day you’re killing it,” the nutritional scientist said.

While some may question the findings because it was a “cohort study,” Norton quickly pointed out that “randomized control trials” have found similar indications to exercise and cancer risk.

“We have randomized control trials looking at very short bursts of exercise, seeing improvements in glucose metabolism, blood lipids, inflammation, and then now the cognitive stuff too,” Norton shared.

The fitness guru also shared that short periods of exercise have been shown to improve mental health.

He explained that the “randomized control trial” found that men with “major depressive disorder or general anxiety disorder” who did two 25-minute sessions of resistance training a week for eight weeks saw “significantly improved symptoms.”

“The effect size for major depressive disorder was 1.7,” Norton said, citing a study released last year in Psychiatry Research.

“For those who aren’t familiar with effect sizes, .2 is a small effect size, 0.5 is modest, and 0.8. Anything above 0.8 is considered large, 1.7 is massive,” Norton said.

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) — a class of drugs that are commonly prescribed to treat depression — usually fall between 0.3 to 0.8, and “the best you see is about 0.8,” he shared.

The professional bodybuilder clarified he wasn’t suggesting people should stop taking their SSRIs instead of working out but to consider other additional options to add to treatment — like exercising.

“I’m not saying we should get rid of SSRIs and have everybody exercise because sometimes maybe someone needs an SSRI just to get out of bed and actually go exercise,” Norton said. “But if we’re looking at how powerful that lever is, that’s amazing.”

However, nutritional scientists understand that getting started with routine exercise can be challenging and suggest that listeners consider it like “brushing your teeth.”

“Do you feel motivated to brush your teeth? No, you do it because you know if you don’t brush your teeth, they’re going to go to crap,” Norton said. “The same thing happens with your body if you don’t exercise.”

According to Johns Hopkins cardiologist Dr. Seth Martin, the average resting heart rate is between 60 and 100 beats per minute (BPM).

The “sweet spot” for exercise depends on a person’s age, and the target heart rate is “usually between 50 percent and 85 percent” of their maximum safe heart rate.

For a 50-year-old, it’s crucial to calculate the maximum heart rate, which can be obtained by subtracting the age from 220. In this case, it’s 170 BPM, Martin shared.

If someone aims for a 50% exertion level, their target should be 50% of that maximum, 85 BPM.

However, if a person wants to push themself to 85% of the maximum, their target should be 145 BPM.

The target heart rate that a 50-year-old should aim for during exercise is 85 to 145 BPM.

Martin noted that it’s important not to “get overly fixated on numbers” and instead just strive to exercise regularly.

Related Topics:cancer depression doctors Exercise fitness health heart disease lifestyle podcasts

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Fitness

Put the fun back in your fitness routine with this 10-minute follow-along workout from The Curvy Girl Trainer Lacee Green

Published

42 minutes ago

April 22, 2026

Press Room

Put the fun back in your fitness routine with this 10-minute follow-along workout from The Curvy Girl Trainer Lacee Green

Ever feel like beginner-friendly workouts are anything but?

That’s how BODi Super Trainer Lacee Green felt, so she devised a three-week, entry-level program designed for genuine newcomers to exercise—or those just getting back into it.

“My beginner-only plan is for every body and everybody,” Green tells Fit&Well.

Green’s program combines low-impact cardio, strength, core and mobility workouts for a total of five sessions a week and 30 minutes a day.

One of the routines she loves—that she says will provide a flavor of the plan—is a total-body cardio workout inspired by seven different sports.

“There is no repetition, it’s all bodyweight and super fun,” she says. “We do basketball, we do pickleball, we do soccer, and it’s really going to get your heart rate up.”

It will all count toward the CDC’s recommended 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity per week, while incorporating resistance training elements to strengthen your bones and muscles, she explains.

And Green has provided the full 10-minute routine below for you to try.

10-minute cardio workout for beginners

Press play on the video above and Green will guide you through the workout, or keep reading to see what’s in store.

Green’s 10-minute beginner-only cardio workout is inspired by seven different sports that she says will help channel your inner athlete.

Each sport links to an exercise during the routine. Follow the short warm-up, then perform each move for 40 seconds and rest for 20 seconds, for one round per sport.

In the video, another trainer demonstrates variations of each exercise so you can make it slightly more challenging as desired. The workout concludes with a short cool-down.

Here’s a brief breakdown of each exercise.

1. Basketball catch and shoot

Step to your side, then reach up into full extension as if shooting a three-pointer. Repeat by shuffling from side to side.

2. Quick football feet

Lower into a quarter squat with your feet wide apart and alternate quick stepping onto either foot. On Green’s cues, switch the direction you face from center to left and right.

3. Skater side-step

Step side to side as if skating, hitting an imaginary hockey stick across your body.

4. Soccer kick-up

Keeping light on your feet, hop from side to side as if juggling a football with your feet.

5. Pickleball shuffle

Lower into a half squat with your hands together in front of you. Keeping low, step or jump forward, then shuffle back to the start position.

6. Boxing jab cross

Stand side on with slightly bent knees and your guard up. Alternate throwing jabs with your left and right, switching your stance after 20 seconds.

7. Baseball squat to high plank

With your feet wide apart, lower into a deep squat with your hands up like a catcher. Place your hands on the floor and step back into a high plank, then back to the low squat.

About our expert

Lacee Green

Lacee Green is a BODi Super Trainer, certified personal trainer (CPT) and coach with more than 10 years of experience. She hosts a number of BODi on-demand fitness programs that are designed to challenge and motivate you while also providing a supportive and inclusive environment.

Fitness

Higher fitness levels linked to lower risk of depression, dementia – Harvard Health

Published

13 hours ago

April 21, 2026

Press Room

Higher fitness levels linked to lower risk of depression, dementia – Harvard Health

research review

People with high cardiorespiratory fitness were 36% less likely to experience depression and 39% less likely to develop dementia than those with low cardiorespiratory fitness. Even small improvements in fitness were linked to a lower risk. Experts believe that exercise’s ability to boost blood flow to the brain, reduce bodywide inflammation, and improve stress regulation may explain the connection.

Fitness

These 20-Minute Burpee Workouts Replaced His Entire Gym Routine – and Transformed His Physique

Published

1 day ago

April 21, 2026

Press Room

These 20-Minute Burpee Workouts Replaced His Entire Gym Routine – and Transformed His Physique

While many swear by them, most people see burpees as a form of punishment – usually dished out drill sergeant-style by overzealous bootcamp PTs. Often the final blow in an already brutal workout, burpees are designed to test cardiovascular fitness, muscular endurance and mental grit. Love them or loathe them, they deliver every time.

For Max Edwards – aka Busy Dad Training on YouTube – they became a simple but highly effective way to stay fit and lean during lockdown. Once a committed powerlifter, spending upwards of 80 minutes a day in the gym, he was forced to overhaul his approach due to fatherhood, lockdown and a schedule that no longer allowed for long, structured lifting sessions.

‘Even though I was putting in hours and hours into the gym and even though my physique was pretty good, I wasn’t becoming truly excellent at any physical discipline,’ he explained in a YouTube video.

‘I loved the intentionality of training,’ says Edwards. ‘The fact that every session has a point, every rep in every set is helping you get towards a training goal, and I loved that there was a clear way of gauging progression – feeling like I was developing competence and moving towards mastery.’

Why He Walked Away From Powerlifting

Despite that structure, Edwards began to question whether powerlifting was sustainable long-term.

‘My sessions were very taxing on my central nervous system. I was exhausted between sessions. It felt as if I needed at least nine hours of sleep each night just to function.’

He also noted that his appetite was consistently high.

But the biggest drawback was time.

‘I could not justify taking 80 minutes a day away from my family for what felt like a self-centred pursuit,’ he says.

A Simpler Approach That Stuck

‘Over the course of that year I fixed my relationship with alcohol and I developed, for the first time in my adult life, a relationship with physical training,’ says Edwards.

With limited time and no access to equipment, he turned to burpees. Just two variations, four times a week, with each session lasting 20 minutes.

‘My approach in each workout was very simple. On a six-count training day I would do as many six-counts as I possibly could within 20 minutes. On a Navy Seal training day I would do as many Navy Seal burpees as I could within 20 minutes – then in the next workout I would simply try to beat the number I had managed previously.’

This style of training is known as AMRAP – as many reps (or rounds) as possible.

The Results

Edwards initially saw the routine as nothing more than a six-month stopgap to stay in shape. But that quickly changed.

‘I remember catching sight of myself in the mirror one morning and I was utterly baffled by the man I saw looking back at me.’

He found himself in the best shape of his life. His energy levels improved, his resting heart rate dropped and his physique changed in ways that powerlifting hadn’t quite delivered.

‘It has been five years since I have set foot in a gym,’ he says. ‘That six-month training practice has become the defining training practice of my life – and for five years I have trained for no more than 80 minutes per week.’

The Burpee Workouts

1/ 6-Count Burpees

20-minute AMRAP, twice a week

How to do them:

Start standing, feet shoulder-width apart
Crouch down and place your hands on the floor (count 1)
Jump your feet back into a high plank (count 2)
Lower into the bottom of a push-up (count 3)
Push back up to plank (count 4)
Jump your feet forward to your hands (count 5)
Stand up straight (count 6)

20-minute AMRAP, twice a week

How to do them:

Start standing, feet shoulder-width apart
Crouch down and place your hands on the floor
Jump your feet back into a high plank
Perform a push-up (chest to floor)
At the top, bring your right knee to your right elbow, then return
Perform another push-up
Bring your left knee to your left elbow, then return
Perform a third push-up
Jump your feet forward
Stand or jump to finish

Kate is a fitness writer for Men’s Health UK where she contributes regular workouts, training tips and nutrition guides. She has a post graduate diploma in Sports Performance Nutrition and before joining Men’s Health she was a nutritionist, fitness writer and personal trainer with over 5k hours coaching on the gym floor. Kate has a keen interest in volunteering for animal shelters and when she isn’t lifting weights in her garden, she can be found walking her rescue dog.