Exercising for People with or Recovering from Cancer

Why is Exercise Important 

Exercising throughout any stage of your cancer journey is an important part of the fight against cancer. Exercising before treatment can reduce treatment complications and enhance post treatment recovery, exercising during treatment can reduce the amount and severity of treatment related side effects and exercising post treatment can decrease the risk of recurrence, aid in recovery and decrease the amount and severity of treatment related long term side effects. 

Benefits of Exercising with Cancer 
Exercising can improve:

•  your quality of life, 
  
• your physical functioning, 
  
• your bone health, 
  
• your adherence to cancer treatments, 
  
• your sleep quality 
  
• your Immune function. 
  

Exercising can reduce:

• amount and severity of treatment related side effects, 
  
• Time in hospital, 
  
• Anxiety and depression
  
• The risk of recurrence 
  

Is Exercising with Cancer Safe 

In general, exercise is considered safe for those who are or have been through cancer treatment when commenced at an conservative starting point, progressed gradually and modified appropriately to accommodate for treatment and disease related side effects and co-morbidities.

Cancer and cancer treatment can affect your ability to exercise in many different ways, including:

• an increased risk of cardiovascular event
  
• decreased bone health
  
• Increased nausea 
  
• Produce skin irritations
  
• Reduce the body range of movement 
  
• Increase fatigue
  
• Increase pain 
  

It is important to identify and consider these changes in your ability to exercise when starting an exercise program. 

What Type of Exercise is Best

It is recommended to engage in 150+ minutes of moderate intensity activity a week or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity exercise per week. It is also recommended to do 2 resistance training (muscle strengthening) sessions a week . 

To get additional health benefits, engaging in anywhere up to 300 minutes of moderate intensity activity a week is preferred. Some exercise is good, more is generally better, however everyone starts at different stages.

Some general rules for exercising with cancer:

• Start slow and progress gradually 
  
• Include both aerobic exercise and resistance exercise 
  
• Spread exercise evenly throughout the week
  
• Aerobic exercise should be an activity that you enjoy and should last for up to 10 minutes in duration
  

The most important aspect of an exercise program for any cancer fighter or survivor is that their program is individualized to their needs, capacities and preferences. 

If you are going through or have gone through cancer treatment and have any questions regarding this post and want to begin to exercise, consulting an Exercise Physiologist is a great way to start.

Izaac Boylan
Accredited Exercise Physiologist 

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