Physical Activity When You Have Cancer

Consider working with a certified trainer or physical therapist

Some people can safely begin or maintain their own exercise program, but many people have better results working with a certified personal trainer or physical therapist. These trained professionals can help you find the type of exercise that’s right and safe for you.

Check with your doctor before you start working with a certified trainer or physical therapist. Also be sure the person you work with knows about your cancer diagnosis and any limitations you have.

Keep safety in mind

As you start to exercise or increase your activity level, it’s important to keep your cancer care team updated. Tell them if you get injured or if you have pain, shortness of breath, or take longer than usual to recover after a workout.

• Stay away from uneven surfaces that could make you fall.
• If you plan to exercise outside, find someplace safe and well-lit.
• Drink plenty of fluids unless you’ve been told not to.
• Don’t play contact sports.
• Take someone with you or make sure someone knows where you are in case you have trouble.
• If you are at greater risk of infection, you may need to stay away from public gyms and crowds until your risk returns to normal.

Begin slowly

Even a few minutes of activity each day will help you. Slowly increase how often and how long you exercise. Listen to your body to know when you need to slow down and rest.

Exercise as you are able. Don’t push yourself while you’re in treatment. Rest when you need to. If you feel very tired, try doing 10 minutes of light exercise each day and build up from there.

Try short periods of exercise with frequent rest breaks. For example, walk briskly for a few minutes, slow down, then walk briskly again until you’ve done 30 minutes of brisk activity. You can also divide your activity into three 10-minute sessions. You’ll still get the benefits of the exercise.

Try more than one kind of exercise

Strength training, stretching, and cardio exercise are all important parts of a good fitness program. Try to include a variety of physical activities, including ones that:

• Use large muscle groups such as your thighs, abdomen (belly), chest, and back
• Help you keep lean muscle mass and bone strength, like resistance bands or light weights
• Increase your flexibility and keep the range of motion in your joints

Remember to warm up and cool down

5-minute warm-up: Always start with 5 minutes of warm-up exercises. Examples include shoulder shrugs, lifting your arms overhead, toe tapping, marching in place, and knee lifts.

5- to 10-minute cooldown: End each exercise session by cooling down with stretching or flexibility exercises. Hold a stretch for 30 seconds to 1 minute, then relax. Examples include reaching overhead, deep breathing, and bending over to touch your toes so that you relax all the muscle groups.

Special considerations

If you want to swim while getting radiation therapy, check with your radiation team first. You should be able to swim if you don’t have any skin irritation or sores, but be sure to rinse off after getting out of a pool to lower the chance of skin irritation.

Use caution with heavy weights or exercises that put too much stress on your bones if you have osteoporosis, cancer that has spread to the bone, arthritis, nerve damage, poor vision, poor balance, or weakness. You may be more likely to hurt yourself or break a bone.

If you have a feeding tube or a catheter (central line in your chest), avoid pool, lake, or ocean water and other exposures that may cause infections. Don’t do strength training that uses muscles in the area of the catheter. This could dislodge it. Ask your cancer team what’s safe for you.

Tips to help you stick to your exercise

• Set short-term and long-term goals.
• Focus on having fun.
• Do something different to keep it fresh. Try yoga, dancing, or tai chi.
• Ask friends, family, or coworkers to join you.
• Use charts or a fitness tracker to record your progress.
• Recognize and reward your achievements.

Starting an exercise program can be a big task, even for a healthy person. It may be even harder if you have a chronic illness, especially if you weren’t used to exercising before your diagnosis.

If you exercised regularly before you were diagnosed with cancer, you may need to reduce the intensity and length of your exercise sessions for a while. Remember, only do what you feel up to doing. Over time, you can build back up as you feel ready.

The goal is to be as active as possible. Keep it safe, keep it fun, and make it work for you.

More Resources

• Exercising at Your Desk or at Home
• Strength Exercises and Weight Training
• Cardio Exercise