Those who exercise regularly in the morning may enjoy more benefits than what they previously knew. Recent research showed that you lower your cancer risk whenever you exercise in the morning.

A study published in the International Journal of Cancer titled, "Effect of time of day of recreational and household physical activity on prostate and breast cancer risk," revealed that people who exercise early in the morning have a reduced risk of developing cancer as compared to those who exercise later in the day.

Researchers analysed data from 2,795 participants, a subset of the Spanish multi-case-control study (MCC-Spain), which was a population-based study on the common tumours found in Spain. The period of research was between 2008 to 2013. The participants were interviewed in order to determine their household physical activity and their lifetime recreational activities. Approximately three years later, the researchers evaluated the time when people would exercise.

The researchers identified a group of 781 women who were suffering from breast cancer and another group of 504 men who had prostate cancer. Both groups responded to the questionnaire relating to their physical activities and gave data on the timing and frequency of their exercises. Then, the data from the two cancer groups were matched to a random control group, also from MCC-Spain but from general practice records, taking into consideration that they would have the same sex and similar age for proper assessment.

The researchers found that exercising between 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. showed the highest beneficial effect in reducing the risk of breast and prostate cancer. They found that approximately seven percent of those who have breast cancer and nine percent in the control group did their exercise early morning. With regards to prostate cancer, about 12.7 percent of those suffering from the illness exercise early in the morning while 14 percent from the control group did their morning activities.

The researchers then made use of a model, which showed that the risk of developing breast cancer was 25 percent lower in those who exercised early morning, compared to those who do not engage in a similar physical activity. Those who exercised during the same time showed a 27 percent reduced risk of developing prostate cancer as compared to those who do not sweat it out.

Morning Exercise Morning Exercise
Morning exercise lowers risk of breast and prostate cancer. Photo: Pixabay

Although people who exercise in the evening also enjoy some benefits, there is a difference between those who engage in physical activities in the morning. Those who exercise between 7:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. showed a 25 percent reduction in the risk of developing prostate cancer.