Exercise

Training Tuesdays

Welcome to Training Tuesdays… What the heck is “Training Tuesdays” you ask and what does it have to do with cancer??? Well, I’m going to tell you… During treatment and even during any time of stress, exercise can keep you going and at your best. Training and just walking carried me through my treatments and helped with fatigue in a major way.

I dealt with radiation, the fatigue that came with it and found that even 20 minutes a day helped with my energy levels. It also serves as a mood enhancer, so helps with the depression, as well.

Of course, you should ALWAYS get your doctor’s approval before starting a new exercise program, especially during cancer treatment.

Each week I’m going to offer advice on the benefits of exercise during cancer treatment and beyond, as well as my insane antics training for my first mud obstacle race.

Feel free to ask any specific questions you might have on exercising during cancer treatment.

Caring for What You’ve Been Given…

For the survivor each day is a blessing or so it should be, but in the beginning we live in fear, worrying about recurrences. After a while we start getting back to “normal” (not real normal, but our new normal) and we promise that we will NEVER take our bodies for granted, again… Time goes by and we get comfortable (another word for lazy) and little by little we often get back to the bad habits we had before cancer.

Why do we do this? We should learn and steer clear of repeating old mistakes, but complacency often returns and we simply get too comfortable. Let’s not allow this to happen… Thirty minutes a day could make a huge difference.

Ideas for 30 minutes that can help take care of what you’ve been given:

  1. Go for a walk because fresh air is good for you, as is getting off the couch (take your dog, too, it’s good for him also).
  2. Take a hike! No, really, just do it.
  3. Dance the night away (won’t even feel like exercise).
  4. Play a game of basketball with the kids (the outside kind, not in front of the television).
  5. Take a class like Zumba and it actually feels like a party (there’s both classes for the ladies and coed).
  6. Get a punching bag and let go (relief on SO MANY levels!).
  7. Play golf (personally, this just makes me angry, but to each his/her own).
  8. Take the kids bowling (have fun and relax)
  9. Join a 5k and whether you walk or run, you’ll likely be helping a great cause and create a habit.
  10. Just get up and move!

Just remember to get a doctor’s approval before beginning any exercise program after being inactive and get moving… You won’t regret it (in the long run).

“Exercise should be regarded as tribute to the heart.”  ~Gene Tunney