On cancer treatment? Here’s how to exercise safely

Listen to top advice from a dietician, a physiotherapist and biokineticist on how to stay healthy – with a focus on exercise - during and post-cancer treatment here.

“Cancer can be a debilitating disease that robs you of your energy and drive, and although it may not feel like it before you start exercising, being active – even in small ways – really can improve your clinical outcomes as well as your quality of life,” says Vitality biokineticist Mari Leach.

“Research has shown that exercise both during and after cancer treatments such as chemotherapy, radiation and surgery has significant benefits to recovery, and helps to reduce the side-effects of the treatment,” Leach adds. Here are her guidelines on how to exercise during and after your cancer treatment.

Tips to start exercising with, or after, cancer

• First of all, make sure you have consent from your oncologist or surgeon to add to, or maintain, your exercise programme.
• Make sure your doctor is aware of all the medications you take and what kind exercise you plan on doing.
• How much and how hard you exercise depends purely on your own level of fatigue, your current fitness level and your reaction to your cancer treatment.
• Make sure you start slowly, and gradually increase the intensity and duration of your exercise.
• Allow for enough recovery time afterwards and pepper your exercise session with breaks.
• Be prepared to adjust your training goals to accommodate for side effects, so depending on when your treatment days are, either choose a lower-intensity exercise or take a rest day.
• Find an activity that you enjoy – one that will make you look forward to your next session.
• Walking is a good starting point for anyone. Invite others to exercise with you, as it will help with keeping one another accountable and with distracting your mind on days when you’re not feeling your best. You can also find tips to get started here.

“Aerobic exercises will help you with fatigue, and strength training will help to reduce muscle mass loss,” says Leach. Around 50% of people with cancer experience these symptoms.

Recommendations for aerobic training

• Try to get in 20 to 60 minutes of aerobic activity a day, for most days of the week. This can be done in one session or broken up into 10-minute sessions throughout the day. It might be easier to do several, shorter spread-out sessions while receiving cancer treatment.
• If you’ve been inactive before your cancer diagnosis, rather start with shorter sessions of 10 to 15 minutes, and gradually build up to longer sessions by adding five minutes to a session at a time.
• If you’re on any medication that’s affecting your heart rate, then use a ‘Rate of Perceived Exertion’ scale to determine the intensity. It should be around “somewhat hard.” This may vary, depending on what kind of treatment you receive, your level of discomfort and pain, and any feelings of nausea and fatigue.
• Make sure you rest well after each session.
• Don’t exercise if you have a fever, the risk of bleeding, lots of pain and nausea, abnormal blood counts or anemia.
• If radiation therapy makes your skin sensitive, make sure you wear exercise clothes that will keep help your skin dry and avoid irritation.

Recommendations for strength training:

• Surgery, radiation or other treatments might prevent you from doing strength training. Visit a physiotherapist to help you restore a full range of movement before you start strength training.
• Start strength training by doing 5 to 15 repetitions for 1 to 3 sets
• Gradually increase the amount of reps and sets as you get stronger.
• Be mindful and avoid holding your breath when lifting weights, especially if you have high blood pressure.
• Remember, it’s normal to experience some muscle stiffness and soreness after strength or weight training.

Leach concludes, “For anyone who has been diagnosed with cancer, it’s important to focus on exercises that will help you maintain your muscle strength, endurance and overall functional abilities. If you don’t have an exercise programme, chat to a biokineticist, who can help with one that is personalised and doable. And don’t get discouraged – starting small is fine, and any physical activity is always better than none.”