Do you know your lung cancer risk? In 2024, more than 100,000 people lost their lives to lung cancer. Fortunately, there are practical measures you can adopt to reduce your risk, including quitting smoking, minimizing exposure to secondhand smoke, and testing your home for radon gas. Regular exercise has also been shown to lower your risk of lung cancer, whether you smoke or not.
Did you know that exercising for at least 30 minutes a day at moderate intensity, five days a week, or three times a week for 25 minutes at a vigorous level, lowers your risk? Here’s how exercise helps reduce your risk of lung cancer:
Improved Lung Function
Just like muscles, lungs become stronger when exercised. Regular exercise increases the lungs’ ability to absorb oxygen and deal with toxins, including cigarette smoke.
Reduced Inflammation
Regular exercise lowers inflammation throughout the body, including the lungs. This can slow the growth of tumors, which is particularly important with lung cancer because it is often not detected until it is well advanced.
Enhanced Immune System
Regular exercise also benefits your immune system. Not only does it reduce your risk of getting sick in general, but a strong immune system is more likely to recognize and deal with abnormal cells that can turn into cancer.
Decreased Carcinogen Concentration
Stronger, more efficient lungs expel toxins more effectively. This decreases the build-up of potential carcinogens in your lungs, reducing the damage they can do. These carcinogens include cigarette smoke and radon gas.
Improved DNA Repair
Exercise has been shown to improve your body’s ability to repair damaged DNA. This reduces your risk of all types of cancer by reducing the number of damaged and abnormal cells that can develop into tumors.
Weight Management
Excessive weight is another risk factor for lung cancer. Exercise is one of the best ways to control your weight, lowering your risk and improving your overall health.
Reduced Oxidative Stress
Oxidative stress happens when your antioxidant levels fall. Exercise raises these levels back up, reducing your risk of lung cancer and a variety of other conditions, and improving your health and mood.
Increased Blood Flow and Gas Exchange
Again, exercise helps your lungs get stronger. It also strengthens your cardiovascular system. This results in increases in blood flow without associated hypertension. It also encourages better gas exchange, meaning your system takes in more oxygen and releases more carbon dioxide, staying in better balance.
Preventative Benefits
For all of these reasons, exercise has strong preventative benefits against lung cancer. It helps your lungs get and stay strong and healthy. Exercise cannot replace quitting smoking, but it can have benefits for both smokers and non-smokers. If you are having difficulty quitting smoking, exercise will give you good prevention. On top of that, exercise has been shown to help smokers quit by helping them deal with cravings.
Start Any Time
It’s never too late to start exercising. You are not too old, too sick, or too heavy to get moving. If you aren’t accustomed to exercise, start slowly and build up activity levels over time.
But anyone can see the preventative benefits of exercise against lung cancer…and many other conditions. If you are at high risk for lung cancer, start exercising today.
Incorporating regular exercise into your lifestyle can help prevent lung cancer, improve your lung health in general, and also prevent or manage a variety of other conditions ranging from heart disease to diabetes. Sworkit offers a holistic approach that can help anyone get and stay active through our large library of workouts and programs for all fitness levels.
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