Exercise and breast cancer: what you need to know

By Jane Murphy, senior clinical nurse specialist at Breast Cancer Now

In this article, Jane Murphy discusses how exercise can support people during or after cancer treatment.

Breast cancer treatment can affect people in different ways. Some people have very few side effects and can continue with their usual activities. However, breast cancer often has long-term physical and emotional impacts, which can make physical activity difficult.

Many people have challenging side effects like joint pain, low mood, and fatigue, as well as issues with body confidence.

For some, feeling extremely tired or unwell can make it difficult to carry on as usual, and everyday activities like exercise can feel extremely hard. This can be frustrating if people want to be active.

There will, however, also be times when people with breast cancer do feel able to do some type of activity, and anything is better than nothing. Exercise or any kind of physical activity can make a big difference to well-being when you have breast cancer, and even a small amount of movement does have benefits.

Exercise during or after cancer treatment can help to:

• Avoid or reduce some side effects of treatment, such as fatigue and weight gain.
• Improve your long-term health, reducing the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
• Prevent or reduce the loss of muscle tone and general fitness that can happen during and after treatment.
• Help your mental wellbeing by reducing anxiety, stress, and depression, and improving your mood and sleep.
• Help regain a sense of control.

For people with primary breast cancer, studies have also shown that physical activity may reduce your chances of the cancer coming back.

If you have had breast cancer surgery, shoulder and arm exercises are important to help you regain the movement and function you had previously. You will be given exercises by your treatment team which build up over the weeks after your operation. It may take time to regain the movement and function you had before your surgery.

How to get started

A good start for anyone struggling to get back to exercise is to set realistic goals and gradually build up their activity. There are many ways to be more physically active as part of your daily routine, including energetic housework or gardening, using the stairs instead of taking the lift, or parking your car further away from the shops or work and walking the rest of the way. It’s important to remember that doing little things every day adds up.

Once you feel more confident, you can start slowly with an exercise activity you enjoy and incorporate it into your routine, gradually building up the amount you do. Anything that gets you a bit warmer and slightly out of breath counts. For example, if you enjoy walking, start walking a short distance regularly.

If you’re managing this easily, gradually build up the distance, number of times a day you walk, or the speed you walk at. Walking can boost your energy, help you feel less tired, and improve your mood. It may also be possible to continue with other types of exercise such as Pilates and yoga.

If chemotherapy drugs are affecting the nerves in your hands and feet (peripheral neuropathy), some types of exercise, such as holding weights, balance activities, cycling, or running, might be more difficult. If this is affecting you, you may need to modify the exercises you are doing. For example, you may want to try using a stationary bike or treadmill instead.

We recommend that before starting any type of vigorous exercise, people talk to their treatment team or GP. How much exercise you should do will depend on a few things, such as your level of fitness, whether you’ve had breast reconstruction, whether you have any side effects from treatment, and whether you have other health conditions.

Breast Cancer Now is funding research at Newcastle University which is looking to create a program that can support women who have had primary breast cancer with tailored diet and exercise guidance after breast cancer. This project has the potential to help people after their treatment, and it could especially help the one in three women who experience persistent fatigue, as well as the 48% of women who experience depression and anxiety.

For support and information about exercise and breast cancer, call Breast Cancer Now’s expert nurses on their free and confidential helpline at 0808 800 6000, email their nurses, or sign up for their support services here.