Here’s one more reason to lace up your sneakers and hit the gym: exercising may prevent certain kinds of cancer, a new study in JAMA Internal Medicine found.
The researchers studied 1.44 million participants over an average of 11 years. They discovered that people with the highest levels of physical activity were 7 per cent less likely to develop any kind of cancer than those who exercised the least.
In particular, the researchers found that exercise had a protective effect on men for the following cancers. (They also found it may help prevent breast and endometrial cancers, too).
Shoot for at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise – like brisk walking – or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise – like jogging – combined with 2 or more days of strength training each week, the Centre’s for Disease Control and Prevention recommends.
This article originally appeared on Men’s Health