Physical Activity and Exercise

Have some inner dialogue with yourself to gain a clear understanding of what you would like to change and why it’s important to you. This helps set your intentions in a way that’s meaningful to you. By aligning with your core values, this helps to shift the mindset away from being only outcome-driven to one of personal growth. This shift helps to create an internal compass of motivation and accountability to guide you to more meaningful, lasting change.

Effective goals are specific, measurable, achievable, and focused on what you do, not just what you want to achieve. Instead of setting a goal like “lose 15 pounds,” try “walk for 30 minutes, three times a week.” Break larger goals into small, trackable steps that you can build on over time. Remember your “why” when setting intentions and creating your goals!

Wellness is a journey of many steps, and not the result of achieving, or missing, a specific goal. Be present in the moment of daily actions, find joy and celebrate your wins, and have resilience and grace when you may need to adapt your goals during your journey. This allows room for continuous growth and progress, and helps to reduce feelings of discouragement.

Focus less on how intense or long a workout is—and more on simply moving your body every day. Walking for 10 minutes daily is better than doing one hard workout and then stopping for a month. Some days may be harder than others, especially during or after treatment, so aim for small, manageable movements.

Treat exercise like any essential appointment. Add it to your daily schedule—and if something comes up, reschedule rather than skip it. Just like you wouldn’t miss a doctor’s visit, make movement a priority.

Doing too much too soon is one of the main causes of injury. Ease into new routines. If you haven’t been running, start with short walks or brief jogs. The same goes for strength training—begin by just moving with good form using your body weight against gravity, then begin to add small weights, and continue to work your way up gradually. This gives your muscles time to adapt and grow stronger.

Sharing your intentions with others such as a health coach, family member, or friend can help support your intentions and goals. This helps to reinforce commitment and provides a support system for encouragement and accountability.

Yes. Regular movement can help lower anxiety and depression, improve your overall quality of life, and support better sleep. Even just five minutes a day may help reduce blood pressure and stress hormones.

One of the most effective ways to support your bones and muscles during and after treatment is through regular movement, which may help you regain flexibility and strength. Load bearing exercises may also help optimize your bone health both during and beyond treatment. These can be in the form of lower impact activities such as brisk walking or stair climbing; higher impact activities such as jogging, running, or jumping; or through strength training with bands or weights. Talk to your care team before implementing these activities as certain conditions may be exacerbated with higher impact activities. Consider working with a professional such as a physical therapist or cancer exercise specialist to safely and effectively implement these activities once cleared by your care team.

Yes. Gentle exercise may help reduce common treatment side effects like fatigue, nausea, and general discomfort. Exercise may also improve tolerance to certain cancer treatments, and may help speed post-operative recovery, once you’re cleared by your care team to do so. 

Moving your body regularly can improve self-esteem and support a more positive body image, both during and after treatment.

Some studies suggest that getting at least three hours of aerobic activity per week may lower the risk of cancer recurrence by up to 50%.