You don't always need long workouts and heavy exercise programs to reduce cancer risk.
According to Eitna, the findings of a large study show that short bursts of vigorous activity performed during everyday life may also be associated with a reduced risk of developing cancer.
This type of activity, which researchers call VILPA or "vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity," includes very short periods of intense activity such as quickly climbing stairs, a short run to catch a bus, or very brisk walking. The main difference from traditional exercise is that a person does not necessarily set aside a specific time to perform it.
In this study, researchers examined data from 22,398 adults in the UK Biobank database; people who reported not engaging in regular exercise or sporting activity. Their activity levels were measured using wearable accelerometers. Participants were followed for an average of 6.7 years, during which 2,356 new cancer cases were recorded.
Just a few minutes a day enough?
Results showed that people who engaged in about 3.4 to 3.6 minutes of vigorous intermittent activity per day had a 17 to 18 percent lower risk of developing cancer compared with people who did none of this type of activity.
For cancers more strongly linked to inactivity, the association was even stronger. Around 3.7 minutes of vigorous activity per day was associated with a 28 percent reduction in risk for this group of cancers.
Also, people who averaged 4.5 minutes of vigorous intermittent activity per day had about a 31 to 32 percent lower risk of developing cancers related to low physical activity.
However, these numbers do not mean that "3 minutes of exercise prevents cancer," i.e., they cannot prove that the vigorous activity itself directly caused the reduction in cancer cases.
Researchers also say that to examine this relationship more precisely, longer-term studies and more trials are necessary.
What exactly does vigorous activity mean?
Vigorous activity refers to movements that noticeably raise heart rate and breathing for a short period. For example, fast running, quickly climbing stairs, or intense effort to catch a vehicle can fall into this category.
An interesting point of the study is that about 92 percent of recorded vigorous intermittent activity occurred in bouts of at most one minute. Therefore, these activities do not necessarily need to be performed as a continuous exercise session.
Do these findings replace regular exercise?
No. One of the most important points to consider when interpreting this study is that the findings should not be taken as a substitute for standard physical activity recommendations.
This research mainly answers a practical question: if a person does not exercise regularly, can short, intense increases in activity throughout the day be better than complete inactivity? The results suggest that such an association likely exists.
Previous studies have also reported links between short bursts of vigorous intermittent activity and better health outcomes. For example, another study of more than 25,000 non-exercisers in the UK Biobank showed that a few minutes of vigorous activity per day were associated with reduced risk of death from cancer and cardiovascular diseases.
On the other hand, a study published in 2026 on more than 91,000 people also showed that reducing long periods of sitting and replacing them with physical activity, even at low intensity, can be associated with better outcomes; although that study also emphasized the limitations of observational studies and the inability to prove causation.
Overall, the existing evidence paints a fairly clear picture: being more active is better than being inactive, and even short, scattered daily activities can be associated with better health. However, one should not interpret the results of these studies to mean that a few minutes of vigorous activity can replace regular exercise or other cancer prevention measures.