Print Page"Exercise Pyramid" Launched at Awareness Day Hosted by Beaumont Physiotherapists
Wednesday May 02, 2012
The annual ISCP Move4Health Campaign for 2012, Move More to Fight Cancer, focuses on the significance of regular exercise on cancer prevention and recovery. This year's campaign aims to get people to actively tackle cancer and to get people to recognise that in any one day accumulating at least 30 minutes of exercise could make a real difference to their cancer risk.
On Tuesday May 1st, the Physiotherapy Department hosted an awareness day at the Patient Information Centre to provide information on how physical activity can make a difference to your lifetime risk of cancer. To that point, the Awareness Day saw the launch of a new tool called the Excercise Pyramid, which was designed by Síne Vasquez, Senior Physiotherapist in Beaumont and Chair of the ISCP’s 2012 Move 4 Health Campaign, in conjunction with the Irish Cancer Society.
Modelled on the “food pyramid” idea, the ISCP Exercise Pyramid shows at its base what people should be doing most of the time: walking to the shops, taking the stairs instead of the lift, and scaling up to include some brisk “aerobic exercise” such as brisk walking, cycling, swimming or jogging for at least half an hour most days of the week (combining this if possible with some stretching exercises such as yoga or Pilates). At the peak of the pyramid are "activities" that people should do less frequently: sitting for more than half an hour at any one time, watching television, and using computers.
Síne Vasquez, Senior Physiotherapist in Beaumont and Chair of the ISCP’s 2012 Move 4 Health Campaign, at the launch of the Exercise Pyramid (with a little helper...).