A new study indicated that engaging in less than a minute or two of vigorous exercise daily can reduce the risk of cancer.

This physical activity can include brisk walking, climbing stairs, doing heavy housework, or playing with children, according to Dr. Emmanuel Stamatakis, the lead author of the study published on Thursday in the journal "JAMA Oncology."

This report relied on data from over 22,000 individuals in the UK Biobank, a large biomedical database and research resource that follows populations over the long term.

The study stated that participants reported not engaging in regular exercise during their leisure time and were wearing accelerometers to track a vigorous intermittent physical activity lifestyle or intermittent vigorous physical activity for their lifestyle.

"Until recently, we knew very little about the activities done as part of daily life that reach vigorous intensity," said Stamatakis, a professor of physical activity and lifestyle and population health at the Charles Perkins Centre and the Sydney Medical School at the University of Sydney in Australia.

The study found that adults who incorporated about 4.5 minutes of vigorous activity in short bouts lasting one or two minutes had more than a 30% lower cancer incidence rate.

Dana Santa, a fitness contributor at CNN and coach for professional athletes, stated that understanding the health impact of vigorous activity in daily life is important because for many, it may be more manageable.

Stamatakis noted, "The vast majority of middle-aged and older adults, over 70-80% in most countries, are not regular exercisers in their leisure time or simply do not engage in any exercise at all."

He added that for those who exercise regularly in their leisure time, there is no need to switch to these short bursts; rather, the results open up more options, the principle here is that the best physical activity regime is one that everyone can fit into their weekly or daily routine.

Because it was an observational study, researchers could only demonstrate that small bursts of physical activity were associated with lower cancer incidence rates, not that exercise directly caused a decrease in cancer rates, said Dr. Glen Geiser, a professor of exercise physiology at the College of Health Solutions at Arizona State University. However, there were indications of why the two were linked.

Previous early-stage experiments showed that tracking a vigorous intermittent physical activity lifestyle leads to quick improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness," said Stamatakis. "Cardiorespiratory fitness, in turn, is associated with lower insulin resistance and chronic inflammation, both of which are major risk factors for cancer."

These lifestyle exercises are not aimed at replacing a good exercise program, but there are benefits for people who don't enjoy exercising, as Stamatakis stated that tracking a vigorous intermittent physical activity lifestyle does not require a financial or time commitment using exercise tools or going to a facility.

Dr. Keith Diaz, an assistant professor of behavioral medicine at the Irving Medical Center at Columbia University in New York City, stated, "Research is gaining new insights into what a healthy movement profile looks like, and it doesn't necessarily mean just spending an hour every day in the gym."

Secondly, it removes the fundamental excuse for not exercising, which is not having enough time, the most common reason for not working out, but who is too busy to get in 1-2 minutes... during the day?