How to get fit after cancer and cancer treatment

Fatigue is the number one killer of improving your fitness after cancer. However, it doesn’t have to be.

There are many ways to reduce cancer fatigue.

One of the best ways to reduce fatigue is by increasing your fitness. The more fit you are, the less fatigue you feel.

This sounds like a catch-22, but if you can muster up the energy to get moving, the exercises you do will help provide your body more energy.

This has to do with your body’s ability to create energy and reduce inflammation during exercise.

It sounds counterintuitive, but the more you work at getting fit, the more being fit will help reduce fatigue.

In order to do this, you need to know:

How to improve your fitness.
How to get started today on improving your fitness.
The intensity you should work out at.

How to improve your fitness

The specific recommendations for cancer survivors is to reach either 150 mins of moderate-intensity cardio a week OR 75 mins of high-intensity cardio a week.

150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise can be broken down to two sessions of 75 mins a week of playing basketball or pickleball or 30 minutes of exercise 5 days a week.

High-intensity exercise, on the other hand, does not require as much time.

How to get fit after cancer and cancer treatments

Generally, the more intense the exercise, the less exercise you need.

So, instead of the required 150 minutes for moderate intensity, your body only requires 75 minutes of high intensity each week.

This can be broken down to 15 minutes per day 5 days per week or 3 days of 25 minutes of high-intensity workouts.

It is most optimal to do a mixture of both, but the most important thing is to choose one and be consistent with it.

The more consistent you are with it, the more benefits you will see, and the faster results you will get.

Reaching 150 mins a week of cardio

At first, reaching 150 mins can sound like a lot, but you can set a goal to reach this within the next 3 months.

The easiest way to help achieve this goal is by regularly incorporating activities you enjoy into your week.

Do you enjoy pickleball, basketball, hiking, kayaking? Choose things you already enjoy doing, and dedicate your weekends (or other free time) to these activities.

This will greatly increase you weekly minutes of moderate activity.

There is no need to rush the process.

Instead, take it slow and gradually increase the amount of time you spend doing cardio each month.

To start:

Take a realistic look at your calendar, and determine how many days a week you can devote to exercise.
On your available days, establish the minimum and maximum amount of time each day gives you. This can be as low as 10-15 mins or as high as an hour.
Start with the minimum amount of time you can give each day, and repeat it weekly until you reach 3 weeks of consistency. You can do more than the minimum amount of time, but never less.
Treat this like a doctor’s appointment or a business meeting you can’t miss.
By the 4th week, you will have 3 weeks of consistency under your belt. Now it’s time to add time 5-10 mins per day until you reach 3 more weeks of consistency.
Continue until you reach the maximum amount of time you had allotted to exercise.
Can you shoot for “the rule of 3’s” (a minimum of 30 mins 3 days a week for the next 3 months)?
Once you reach the “rule of 3”, now can focus on your intensity.

Keep it simple; start with cardio

To get fit, you need cardio. You cannot gain your fitness back if you do not do cardio.

Cardio is any activity that gets you breathing a little harder and increases your heart rate to improve your fitness that you can sustain for an extended period of time, such as:

Leisurely walk, jogging, hiking.
Zumba, cardio boxing
swimming, water aerobics
Roller blading, cycling
Nustep, elliptical
Recumbent bike
Crossfit

Cardio is the building block to help your body last longer while doing a certain task.

It helps improve your stamina after chemo, and is the main determinant that reduces cancer reoccurrence risk.

It keeps your cells healthy, your immune system functioning well, and reduces the chemo toxicity that affects your body.

The best form of cardio is

The simplest, most effective form of cardio is a brisk walk. A brisk walk is the most common and underrated form of cardio for many—young, old, healthy, and unhealthy—but it is especially useful for cancer survivors.

A brisk walk goes a long way and can greatly improve your energy, immune system, mental clarity, and memory.

It’s low impact and moderate intensity.

On the other hand, if you have trouble walking and have joint pain, water aerobics or swimming is a great alternative for low-impact, moderate-intensity exercise.

And if you like more intense activities, research shows the best cardio for survivors to improve coordination and balance is running and racket ball.

Cardio can be done anywhere, and while these are the best forms of cardio, it is important to choose forms:

You enjoy
Your body is able to do

The last one is the most challenging, particularly if you were a very active person before cancer,

But it’s better to start somewhere and build up than to never get started at all.

What if I can’t last a full 20-60 mins?

There are many forms to choose from to help build up your fitness level.

For example:

Low intensity steady cardio. A great starting point is a leisurely walk for 30-45 minutes at a slow pace. If you have trouble with moderate intensity, take short breaks as you walk.
Moderate steady cardio. This option is good for those who keep the same pace for 15-60 minutes.
Moderate interval cardio. For example, you can do a brisk walk for 2-3 mins, and then walk normally for 3-5 mins and repeat 3-6 times.
High-intensity interval cardio. Similar to above, you can run for 1-3 mins and then walk normally for 3-5 mins and repeat 3-6 times.
Group classes. Water aerobics or Zumba are great activities to do with others to get cardio in. These are high-intensity forms of cardio, so take caution to work your way up to it.
Functional fitness exercises. These would be forms such as circuit training, Tabata, and/or Crossfit. With functional fitness exercises, you lift weights for a certain time period and have limited rest to recover. This is a high intensity form of cardio, so take caution not to start this too soon.

The goal is to work at intensities you can sustain, and sometimes all it takes is for you to sustain an intensity for 1 min and then slow down the pace.

Have fun with different variations, and see which one you like best.

Your intensity matters most

Research shows that you will see the most benefit when reaching a moderate intensity.

Unlike high intensity, where you are breathing heavily, moderate-intensity exercise should make you breathe somewhat heavily, but not so heavy that you can’t carry on a conversation.

Use the formula below to calculate your target heart rate for the right intensity.

“Moderate” intensity can vary from person to person, but by using your heart rate, you will know the best intensity for you.

This is great for those who have a fitness tracker.

The goal is to start at the Low HR and slowly work your way up.

Scientifically speaking, you want to reach at least 64% of your heart rate max.

When starting out, if you haven’t exercised in awhile, this may feel hard at the beginning,

If you feel like this is too high to reach, that’s ok; work your way up slowly to it.

It takes time so be patient

Improving your fitness after cancer to get your stamina back is a process.

This is not a quick fix, and it does require:

time
effort
discipline
patience

But, if you are willing to fight through the tough parts and muster up the energy to get moving, you will be a completely new person in a matter of 6 months.

So, to keep it simple, start with cardio to gain back energy and stamina after cancer treatment.

The process takes time; there is no magic pill for it.

And yet, it’s still important to be consistent and keep going, even though:

you don’t want to
you don’t have the energy for it
you aren’t motivated

Remember you’ve already been through a lot.

So, learn to take your time but also challenge yourself.

Start with what you can accomplish, and take every milestone as an accomplishment no matter how big or how small it might seem.

There is no need to rush the process. It’s simplyl essential you start.

What should I eat?

Proper nutrition is a must for improving your fitness. It helps give you enough energy build muscle and speeds up your recovery.

However, nutrition will be different for everyone and is highly dependent on your goals.

When you are looking to be fit and you are doing more cardio, protein becomes more important.

In fact, runners actually require more protein than bodybuilders. When exercising, you want to get a minimum of 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight.

However, this will differ, and it is not a perfect equation.

To learn more about what to eat, check out: What To Eat During Cancer for healthy eating tips.

Lastly, if you don’t feel ready to incorporate both proper nutrition and exercise, just pick one and stick with it.

Free Fat-Loss Guide

Reaching the full 150 minutes can be challenging.

But we have designed 101 free workouts, so you know how to get started—particularly if you can’t go out for a brisk walk.

This will come with a free fat-loss guide to help you know how much protein to eat, what calories to consume, and what exercises to apply.

Grab yours today.

Grab your free fat-loss guide

How to get fit after cancer and cancer treatments