Benefits of Exercise While Living with Cancer

The Benefits of Exercise while Living with Cancer

by D.O.C.

If you are being treated for cancer or recovering, you may think it’s important to rest, but research shows that exercise benefits most people with cancer. Learn more about exercise, and the benefits of physical activity before, during and after cancer treatment.

What is Exercise?

Physical activity is a broad term for body movement that uses your muscles and may speed up you're breathing and heart rate. It includes exercise sessions as well as some everyday activities, like housework, gardening and walking the dog. Exercise is usually structured physical activity that aims to improve health and fitness. It can include doing planned or specific movements or other physical activity.

Why is Exercise important after a diagnosis?

Exercise is important for everyone’s overall health and wellbeing, but it has a range of general benefits for people with cancer. It may:

• improve how you respond to treatment (for some cancers)
• reduce the risk and severity of side effects of cancer treatments
• reduce complications from surgery and time spent in hospital
• help with recovery from treatment by increasing energy levels, reducing treatment-related muscle loss, strengthening bones, and improving mobility and balance
• improve sleep and fatigue, and relieve stress, anxiety and depression
• help maintain a healthy weight
• reduce the risk of developing or improve health issues, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, osteoporosis and type 2 diabetes
• reduce the risk of some cancers coming back, including breast, prostate, bowel and endometrial (uterine) cancers
• boost mood and self-esteem
• offer new ways to meet people and socialize.

How Much Exercise Should I Do?

Dr. Onyedikachi Ibeji ,an occupational therapist and exercise specialist, recommends that exercise should be prescribed to all cancer patients as a standard part of their cancer care to help manage the effects of cancer and its treatment. Aim to be as physically active as your abilities allow. Exercise for people living with cancer should be tailored to the type and stage of cancer and any side effects. Contact Dr. Ibeji by visiting his website about how much and what type of exercise is best for you.

Dr. Ibeji recommends that people with cancer who are relatively healthy and have been assessed as low risk, aim for and maintain per week:

• at least 2½ hours of moderate intensity aerobic or cardio exercise or 1¼ hours of vigorous aerobic or cardio exercise
• 2–3 strength or resistance sessions to build muscle strength.

It can take time to build up to this level of exercise. After treatment, aim to gradually increase exercise. Dr. Ibeji recommend you:

• move more and sit less
• aim to be active on most, preferably all, days of the week
• get a total of 2½ to 5 hours of moderate intensity or 1¼ to 2½ hours of vigorous intensity physical activity (or an equivalent combination of both moderate and vigorous activities) throughout a week
• do 2–3 strength or resistance training sessions a week, involving large muscle groups
• break up long periods of sitting as often as you can.

Strength and Resistance Training

The weights or resistance that can be used include:

• your own body weight – you use body weight for push-ups, pull-ups from the floor or against a wall, and squats, yoga and mat work Pilates
• free weights – this includes dumbbells and barbells, hand weights and weighted bags which you hold, along with wrist and ankle weights which you attach with straps
• weights or resistance machines – these are devices that have adjustable seats or handles attached to either weights or hydraulics, weight stacks, levers and pulleys to provide resistance
• elastic resistance bands – sometimes called TheraBands or stretch bands, they are like giant rubber bands that are hard to stretch; they come in different colors according to the level of resistance.

You can buy free weights and resistance bands at sporting goods stores, some major retailers or online. Hand weights can be made from tin cans or plastic bottles filled with water or sand. Use scales to check the weights are of equal value. Use a backpack that has a handle to hold, and vary the resistance by adding bags of sand or water bottles.

How Much Strength Training Should I Do?

Try to do strength and resistance training at least 2–3 times a week, with a rest day between each session. Strength and resistance training exercise sessions include several different parts:

• repetition (reps) – doing an exercise from the start position, through
• the movement, and back to the start (e.g. 10 squats is 10 reps)
• set – a series of repetitions (e.g. doing 10 squats, 2 times, is 2 sets)
• rest – the time between each set.

During each training session, aim for 6–10 exercises that target the major muscle groups of the arms, legs and torso.

An exercise professional can design a program, or as a guide, you can try:

• 6–10 different types of exercises
• 4–10, 6–12 or 8–12 repetitions of each exercise per set
• 1–4 sets or rounds of each exercise per session
• 1–2 minutes of rest between sets.

A program should challenge your muscles without straining them. This is a good way to decide how many repetitions you do in a set when you first start exercising.

To help work out the repetitions or amount of resistance, aim to feel like you have 2–3 repetitions left at the end of a set. If you feel like you could do another 8–10 repetitions, then the resistance is too low. Once you become comfortable with a program, you can increase your strength by making it harder – but just make small increases at a time.

You may feel some soreness after exercising. This is normal at the end of a set, or 1 or 2 days after you have exercised. But any soreness should not be excessive. If you are quite sore or the pain continues for more than 2 days, then the session or resistance was too hard.

- D.O.C.

9/25/24