Keep on moving... to beat cancer
Personal trainer Carolyn Garritt explains why exercise can boost recovery and reduce recurrence of the disease
Many think that rest is best when it comes to recovering from cancer treatment, but experts are now challenging this belief with the theory that being active helps you recover quicker and stops recurrence.
“From the day of diagnosis, exercise is a good thing,” says Carolyn Garritt, a personal trainer and cancer exercise specialist. “Not only does it help with physical recovery, it’s also about how you cope, your mood and your ability to care for yourself.
“Staying active stimulates appetite so you can stay on track with nutrition, plus it helps you sleep and relax.”
However, if you’ve had surgery for cancer, it’s important not to interrupt the healing of your wound, while radiotherapy can blister skin, causing some exercise to be uncomfortable.
Initially, Carolyn recommends a return to gentle activity, such as walking, around three weeks after surgery. “Most people will know what normal feels like for them so it’s important to listen to your body,” she says. “You should do whatever activity works for you.”
Prehab
The importance of exercise before treatment or surgery is currently being trialled in Greater Manchester with a Prehab4Cancer programme.
“As soon as you are diagnosed, you’re put in touch with three different types of professionals,” says Carolyn. “An exercise professional, a nutritionist and psychological support. The three of them overlap in the time between diagnosis and treatment kicking in, which can be three or four weeks, or even longer.”
This helps ensure that patients start their treatment in the best mental and physical health they can be in.
“It’s been shown to reduce how long people stay in hospital as well as reducing readmission,” says Carolyn. “It’s also highly empowering for the patient because it gives them something tangible and practical to do when their mind is spiralling out of control.”
■■Try: Make sure you’re doing something you love, whether that’s gardening, walking or a Zumba class. Your aim is to get a little bit out of puff and feel warm.
Mid-treatment
People lose strength when they go through cancer treatment simply because they are less active for several months. A loss of energy or fatigue is reported by up to 95 per cent of people with the disease, says Carolyn.
“Even getting up out of a chair and
going upstairs feels more difficult,” she says. “It can sound counter-intuitive, but this is a good time to do weights and start to rebuild your strength using light weights or resistance bands.”
Exercise helps turn energy levels around and research has shown exercising is an important part of reducing risk of recurrence too.
■■Try: A wall sit. Lean against a wall with your spine and shoulders touching it. Bend your knees, sliding down until your thighs are horizontal – make sure you’re far enough from the wall so your shins are vertical. Hold for as long as you can.
Post-treatment
Whether you’ve recovered from cancer or are living with it, you should be aiming for 150 minutes a week of activity that leaves you warm.
“People freak out when they think they’ve got to go running for 150 minutes,” says Carolyn. “But being active can be dancing, walking, gardening.” Try breaking it down into
10-minute chunks, she says. Think about moving when there’s an ad break or try something that challe or three times a week.
“As well as improving your health, strength training is empowering,” says Carolyn. “Post-treatment, you might feel vulnerable. Getting strong can change that.” ■Try: Work at 70 per cent of your maximum heart rate. This is the maximum number of beats your heart can safely make a minute. To work it out it’s 220 minus your age multiplied by 70 per cent.