Undertaking healthy pursuits is something we should all have at the forefront of our minds, but it seldom comes up that way in life. Usually, it takes a serious scare to force you into looking after yourself that bit more. An illness like cancer is something that is incredibly debilitating, but when you are suffering this or any chronic illness or disease, the act of exercising is something that you might not consider to be beneficial in coping, not least building up strength. But it is possible, if you’ve never undertaken an exercise routine before, to exercise during cancer treatment. How are the best ways to go about this?
Listen To Your Body
Of course, the old expression no pain, no gain comes to mind, but when you are undergoing treatment for cancer, you need to know when to say when. There would be no point in undergoing a grueling cardiovascular session when you have lung cancer or any issues that cause problems with your breathing. You want to be functional in how you exercise, so listen to your body.
Rest Is As Important As Exercise
While exercise has its benefits in giving you more energy, there isn’t always much spoken of when it comes to rest. Rest is as important, if not more important, as the workout itself. This gives you the opportunity to heal and to grow. The temptation to be always to push yourself that little bit more in exercise, because you will repair your muscles to be stronger, but when you are undergoing treatment, it’s important to think about how fatigued you will potentially become as a result of the treatment. Choosing your exercises are important in this respect, because you can get a good idea of how your body will react to it. Any exercise is good exercise; you don’t need to push yourself to extreme fatigue in order to feel the benefits further down the line.
Keep The Exercise Fun
You want to leave your workout feeling energized, not broken. This is why it’s important to keep the exercises fun, so you enjoy them, but also beneficial to you. So, it depends on what you are into personally, it could be weight training, or it could be light sports or physical activity. Any exercise is good exercise, and it’s worth keeping this in mind when you are looking to get the physical benefits of working out or playing sports. There have been studies in how targeted resistance training can benefit cancer sufferers, a link will follow this article, but when you aren’t under close supervision, it’s far better for you to make sure you’re getting the positive outcomes of exercise. Something like greasing the groove, a method popularized by Pavel Tsatsouline, could benefit here because you are never fatiguing yourself in a workout, but rather doing 50% to 60% of your max. This will ensure you build strength naturally without tiring yourself.
Undergoing treatment for any debilitating illness is an arduous task, but exercise can be one of the secret weapons and fighting any illness, so long as you do it right.