American Cancer Society Relay For Life Mission Guide
Physical Activity
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Get Moving to Better Health
What Everyone Needs to Know
What if you could feel good, look better, and save money, all while reducing your risk of cancer, heart disease, and
diabetes? You can! Increasing your daily physical activity will do this and more. Research has shown we all benefit
from being active, regardless of age. People who are active are less stressed, live healthier lives, and have lower
medical costs.
Physical Activity and Cancer – What’s the Connection?
One out of three cancer deaths in the US are linked to diet and physical
activity. Another one-third are caused by tobacco products.
You can improve your health – and reduce your cancer risk – by watching
your weight, eating a healthy diet, and being more active. (And, of
course, not smoking.) As a matter of fact, if you don’t smoke, these are
the most important ways to reduce your risk of cancer (heart disease and
diabetes, too!).
Physical activity can help reduce the risk of many different types of cancer. Being active can directly reduce the
risk of breast and colon cancers. Physical activity can also help indirectly reduce the risk of many types of cancer
by helping to maintain a healthy weight. Being overweight increases the risk of cancers of the breast in postmenopausal women and cancers of the colon, rectum, endometrium, esophagus, kidney, pancreas, and others. By
helping control weight, physical activity can impact the risk of those cancers associated with being overweight.
Being active is also important for cancer survivors. In addition to having a positive impact on quality of life, physical
activity is associated with reduced recurrence of breast, colon, prostate, and ovarian cancers.
Physical Activity
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American Cancer Society Relay For Life
Mission Guide
Basic Facts
The way to achieve a healthy body weight and reduce
excess body fat is to lower the number of calories you
consume and increasing your physical activity. You can
lower your calorie intake by eating smaller amounts of
food (decreasing portion sizes), limiting between-meal
snacks, and reducing your intake of foods and drinks
that are high in calories, fat, and/or added sugars or that
provide few nutrients. Replacing fried foods, cookies,
cakes, candy, ice cream, and regular soft drinks with
vegetables and fruits, whole grains, beans, and lowercalorie beverages can also help.
Recommendations for Physical Activity
For people who are not active or just starting a
physical activity program, even low levels of activity
can improve your health, especially your heart health.
The amount and intensity of activity can then be
increased slowly over time. The American Cancer
Society recommends:
Types of activity
Usual activities are those that are done on a regular
basis as part of your daily routine. They include those
activities done at work (such as walking from the parking
garage to the office), at home (such as climbing a flight
of stairs), and those that are part of daily living (such as
dressing and bathing). Usual activities are typically brief
and low in intensity.
• Adults get at least 150 minutes of moderateintensity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity
each week (or a combination of these), preferably
spread throughout the week.
Intentional activities are those done in addition to usual
activities. These activities are often planned and done at
leisure as regularly scheduled physical activity or fitness
sessions, such as a bike ride or a run. Other intentional
activities may involve adding more purposeful physical
activity into the day and making lifestyle choices to add
to or replace other routine activities, such as walking
to use public transportation or commuting by bicycle
instead of driving.
• Children and teens get at least 1 hour of moderateor vigorous-intensity activity each day, with
vigorous activity at least 3 days each week.
• Even if you exercise regularly, limit sedentary
behavior, such as sitting, lying down, watching TV,
and other forms of screen-based entertainment.
If you have a job that requires a lot of sitting, take
frequent breaks to stand up and move around.
To burn off a large order of fries (400 calories)
Usual and intentional activities can also be grouped
by intensity:
A 160-pound person could burn off 400 calories in
the time and activities shown below:
• Light-intensity activities include activities such as
housework, shopping, or gardening.
ActivityMinutes
Vacuuming or mopping
160
Strolling117
Playing with kids
111
Golf100
Power walking81
Gardening74
• Moderate-intensity activities are those that require effort
equal to a brisk walk.
• Vigorous-intensity activities generally use large muscle
groups and result in a faster heart rate, deeper and
faster breathing, and sweating.
Source: L iving Smart: The American Cancer Society’s Guide to
Eating Healthy and Being Active
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American Cancer Society Relay For Life
Mission Guide
Examples of moderate- and vigorous-intensity physical activities
Moderate Intensity
Vigorous Intensity
Exercise and leisure
Walking, dancing, leisurely bicycling, ice and
roller skating, horseback riding, canoeing,
yoga
Jogging or running, fast
bicycling, circuit weight training, aerobic
dance, martial arts, jumping rope, swimming
Sports
Volleyball, golfing, softball, baseball,
badminton, doubles tennis, downhill skiing
Soccer, field or ice hockey, lacrosse, singles
tennis, racquetball, basketball, cross-country
skiing
Home activities
Mowing the lawn, general yard and garden
maintenance
Digging, carrying and hauling, masonry,
carpentry
Workplace activity
Walking and lifting as part of the job
(custodial work, farming, auto or machine
repair)
Heavy manual labor (forestry, construction,
firefighting)
Develop a Plan … Ready, Set, GO!!
It’s important to enjoy what you’re doing, so you won’t get bored or think of physical activity as a chore. To help you
choose the activity that’s right for you, ask yourself these questions:
Do you like to be social, or do you prefer time
to yourself?
Do you need to get energized or wind down?
• For an energy boost, try aerobic activities that get the
heart pumping.
• Social butterflies should try activities that connect them
with other people. Try walking with friends, joining a
team or recreation association, or going line dancing.
• Reduce stress with activities like yoga or tai chi.
• If you need time to yourself, walking, running,
swimming, or gardening can give you time to reflect.
Do you want to get away from it all or get
involved?
• If you want to get away, choose outdoor activities such
as hiking, biking, or kayaking.
Are you goal-oriented, or do you like to stay
flexible?
• To get involved in the community, consider building
homes for people in need, helping an elderly neighbor
with yard work, or tidying up a local school.
• If you like to feel a sense of accomplishment, choose
activities where you can chart and monitor your
progress, such as training for a run, or take up an
activity with rising skill levels, such as martial arts.
• Of course, being a Relay For Life participant is a great
way to exercise and get involved!
• For a more flexible routine, try walking or find an
exercise video you can do at home.
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American Cancer Society Relay For Life
Mission Guide
Safety first!
Active substitutions
By following a few practical guidelines, you can ensure
that your physical activity is fun and safe.
Don’t think you have time to add physical activity to your
day? Consider simple substitutions. Think about how
much time you spend sitting vs. being active. Are there
ways to replace sitting with moving? For instance:
• Most children and young adults can safely do moderate
and/or vigorous activities without checking with their
doctors. But men older than 40, women older than
50, and anyone with chronic illnesses or risk factors
for heart disease should check with their doctor before
starting a vigorous-activity program.
• Use the stairs instead of the elevator.
• Walk or bike to your destination.
• Be active at lunch with your coworkers, family, or
friends.
• If you are just starting to be active regularly, start slowly
and increase duration, intensity, and frequency over time.
• Take a 20-minute activity break at work to stretch, or
take a quick walk.
• Warm up and stretch to reduce your chance of injury.
• Be active with a partner.
• Walk to visit coworkers instead of sending an email
message.
• Drink plenty of water before, during, and after physical
activity.
• Go dancing with your spouse or friends.
• Plan active vacations, rather than driving trips.
• Don’t overdo it. There is no gain from pain.
• Wear a pedometer every day to increase your number
of daily steps.
• Always follow instructions and safety recommendations
when using exercise equipment or machinery.
• Join a sports or recreation team.
• Wear comfortable clothes and the right kind of shoes.
• Use a stationary bicycle or treadmill while watching TV.
• If you are exercising outside, be sure to protect your skin
from the sun by wearing sunscreen (SPF 30 or higher),
wearing a hat, wearing a shirt, and wearing sunglasses.
Plan your activity routine to slowly increase the days per
week and minutes per session. Whether you set aside time
to exercise or do short bursts of activity throughout your
day, the most important thing is to get up and get moving.
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American Cancer Society Relay For Life
Mission Guide
How to Get Your Community Moving
American Cancer Society Recommendations
for Community Action
Keep It Going at Your Relay Event
• Walk the track.
Public, private, and community organizations should work
together at the national, state, and local levels to apply
policy and environmental changes that:
• Stage competitive games to boost participants’ energy.
• Increase access to affordable, healthy foods in
communities, places of work, and schools, and
decrease access to and marketing of foods and drinks
of low nutritional value, particularly to youth.
• Organize a 5K fun run.
• Provide safe, enjoyable, and accessible environments
for physical activity in schools and workplaces, and for
transportation and recreation in communities.
–– Promote new activities and exercises at all Relay
meetings.
–– Organize a Relay Recess™ or Relay Field Day™ at
your local schools.
–– Organize a Bark For LifeTM event in your community
at a local park or...
–– Hold a fun run/walk.
–– Work with area fitness businesses to promote
getting active.
© 2013 American Cancer Society, Inc. – No. 006226
• Host a Zumba activity at midnight.
• Lead a morning stretch at dawn.
• Ask a local rock-climbing studio to bring a climbing
wall to your Relay event. Ask your Society staff
partner about rules and regulations regarding this
type of activity.
For additional fun ways to make your Relay event
healthier, visit RelayForLife.org/healthy.