A Little Exercise Can Go A Long Way for Breast Cancer Patients – and Survivors

Getting regular exercise during and after breast cancer treatment has many benefits. Not only has it been shown to enhance overall health and wellness, but exercising regularly can also improve mood, stamina, muscle strength, sleep, and confidence. Additionally, exercise can help manage treatment and cancer-related side effects such as fatigue, pain, lymphoedema, and lowered bone density. Some research even suggests that regular exercise may reduce the chances of breast cancer returning.

How to Get Started

We recommend you discuss starting an exercise program with your oncologist and treatment team. Typically, you can begin to exercise during and after treatment. For most people, the earlier, the better. However, you may need to make some modifications and take precautions. The American Cancer Society recommends 150 minutes of cardiovascular exercise and 2-3 days of strength training per week. The frequency and intensity of the exercises should be based on your current health and fitness level. If you have already been exercising, keep it up as you feel, listening to your body and allowing rest when it asks for it. If you are not active, start slowly with a walking program and gradually build up to the recommended amount. 

What Exercises Are Best?

It doesn’t really matter what exercise you do. The important thing is that you do something you enjoy. This will help you to stay motivated. It can also help to alternate the types of exercise you do to keep it interesting. For example, cardiovascular training, also known as “cardio,” increases your heart rate, helps you burn calories, lose weight or maintain a healthy weight, and improves your overall heart health. Choose from jogging, cycling (stationary bikes are fine), swimming, or taking brisk walks. Cardio can also be a great stress relief and help maintain a sense of well-being. You may also want to include flexibility exercises, like yoga, in your workout routine. It can help you maintain mobility and prepare you for more vigorous exercises. Resistance training can also help maintain muscle and bone mass, which may be necessary during and after treatment. 

Tips to Get You Moving

Set Goals

Setting goals will help you stay accountable and motivated. It’s important that you can see progress not only on a scale but also in the small things like extending your usual walk by 10 minutes or moving to a heavier resistance band. You can also consider finding a friend or family member to be your “accountability partner.”  Having someone there to give you a little extra motivation makes exercising more fun. 

Change It Up

Don’t forget to add a little variety to your exercise routine. Not only will it help you avoid boredom or burnout, but you’ll also benefit from trying various types of activity like aerobic exercise, yoga, or strength training.

Functional Fitness Counts

Functional fitness refers to the exercise you get from daily activities such as housework or gardening. Just because you didn’t go to the gym doesn’t mean you didn’t exercise that day. There are plenty of everyday tasks that can help you stay active. For example, walking to the mailbox, doing laundry, and sweeping the floors are all things that can contribute to your weekly exercise total if it is done at moderate intensity.

Talk to Your Doctor

Before jumping into a new exercise program, always talk to your physicians, especially a lymphedema specialist. They may recommend that you be fitted with a compression sleeve to help minimize the swelling that may be a side effect of treatment. Remember, the routine you used to do before cancer may not be appropriate during treatment. Your doctor can also help clear you on which exercises you can do on your own and which you may need help from a physical therapist or professional trainer. 

While it may sound like the last thing you want to do while undergoing treatment, exercising does have a significant impact on helping to reduce the risk of breast cancer returning and the risk of death from breast cancer. At F3 Wellness Connections, we can help you establish realistic goals and design an exercise program with the most benefits and the fewest risks to your health or physical condition. Contact us today to get started!