Can Exercise Enhance Cancer Treatment?

For the first time I am posting an article on this blog from a guest author. 

His name is David Haas of the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance.

David promotes exercise to help cancer patients deal with such a scary subject. Exercise for cancer patients is one of my favorite subjects. Exercise has helped my wife recover physically and emotionally each time she has had cancer.

Can exercise enhance cancer treatment? by David Haas

Can exercise enhance cancer treatment? Modern research indicates that it can, and the latest national guidelines recommend exercise for cancer patients. In fact, today’s cancer patients are warned to avoid inactivity despite traditional advice to the contrary.

Compelling studies suggest that exercise is safe for most patients, both during and after treatment like radiation and chemotherapy. Even those undergoing stem cell transplants and other complex procedures benefit from physical activity.

Much of the medical community holds to a prevailing attitude that cancer patients should not push themselves during therapy. However, new research reverses this cautionary exercise advice for patients with breast and prostate cancers, gastrointestinal tumors and other cancers.

According to an American College of Sports Medicine panel of experts, cancer patients should strive for 150 minutes of aerobic exercise a week. This is the same guideline recommended for the general public.

Some activities, such as swimming and yoga, are extremely beneficial for cancer patients. Other activities may harm those with specific types of cancer. For example, strenuous weightlifting is not recommended following breast cancer surgery. Vigorous workouts are impossible for people in mesothelioma treatment, and patients with weakened immune systems should avoid public gyms.

Doctors and fitness professionals should tailor exercise plans to individual cancer patients. They must take into account a variety of factors: age, fitness level, diagnosis, cancer stage, treatment plan and more. Nearly all patients can engage in some type of activity, if it is planned with their individual needs in mind.

Change in body composition is a persistent concern for cancer patients. Weight gain and loss are closely tied to cancer symptoms and therapy side effects. Patients with breast cancer, prostate cancer and other hormone-based tumors tend to gain weight during treatment. Those with pancreatic cancer, gastrointestinal tumors and other cancers often suffer extreme weight loss.

Studies indicate that both groups can benefit from exercise. While physical activity burns energy and promotes weight loss, it also maintains lean body mass and improves appetite. The energy it creates contributes to increased strength, endurance and general well being.

Exercise can enhance cancer treatment by addressing quality of life issues, as well. Regular physical activity lifts the mood, reduces fatigue and improves mental outlook. With appropriate and adequate exercise, patients can live and function independently during treatment. This is very important, since cancer takes away so much of a person's sense of independence and control.

Thank you David for such a great article.

Keith Sutorius - Owner MAST Fitness 

Why train your balance?

A few days ago my daughter and a couple of her friends came in when I heard my wife ask one friend how her mom was doing. The friends response is why I love helping people. She said her mom was really stressed out. Her grandma had fallen and broken one arm and possibly her hip. Now her mom was having to deal with the stress of this situation. We have a good friend who's dad fell and has never been the same. His daughter has had to deal with all the after affects of his fall.


What could both daughters done to make things easier on themselves? They could have hired a personal trainer for their respective parent. I happen to be the trainer that focuses on balance exercises as much as strength exercises with my clients. Very few people work on their balance on a regular basis.



This is what motivates me. If I had been working with grandma she probably wouldn't have fallen. If she did fall, she would have been able to control the fall better and probably not been hurt so badly. Even if she still broke her hip, she would recover much better than the average person.


How do I know this. I worked with a women who ended up breaking both her hips within a few years. The medical staff each time was amazed how well she recovered from each break. I give the credit to all the squats and various hip exercises she had done in the previous six years. Without them she might have never lived at home again.


In this case my exercises didn't prevent hip fractures, but they did allow the client to recover from then much better than if she had never been my client. If she had been younger when I began working with her, she could have performed a more intense routine which would have strengthened her bones more and decreased the chance of hip fractures.


Although is is never too late to begin a well designed balance and strength program, the sooner you begin, the better the results.


Soon I will post ways you can test how good your balance is.