|  | Cancer | Other Cancers

Should You Excerise While You Are Taking Chemo Treatments?

Patients undergoing chemotherapy (chemo) are often fatigued. Nonetheless, in most cases, you should exercise when you are taking chemo treatments. Exercising helps cancer patients undergoing chemo treatments to maintain their strength, increase their endurance, and manage the side effects of chemotherapy.

  1. Physical Benefits

    • The most obvious benefits of exercising while you are taking chemo treatments are physical. Strengthening exercises such as weight training help keep muscles from losing strength during chemo. Aerobic exercises, such as walking or riding a bicycle, help increase your endurance. Exercising while taking chemo treatments helps you manage fatigue. Strength training while taking chemo treatments helps you maintain muscles needed for daily functions such as climbing stairs or doing household chores.

    Emotional Benefits

    • Exercising while you are taking chemo treatments can also benefit you emotionally. Chemo patients often suffer from depression and emotional distress. Exercising while you are taking chemo treatments can give you a sense of control over your life, despite the cancer and the chemo treatments, and that can lead to more self esteem, less fatigue, and better sleep. Exercise during chemotherapy has also been linked to shorter hospital stays.

    Types of Exercise

    • While you are taking chemo treatments, you may find that you don't have much energy, but this doesn't need to stop you from exercising. Consult your health care team about what regimen is right for you. The main things to concern yourself with are how often you should exercise, how long your exercise sessions should be, and how intense your exercise should be. If you are taking chemo treatments, you should start slowly with any exercise program--as little as five to 10 minutes per day, three times per week. It is generally best to start with low impact exercises. Later, you can increase the frequency, length and intensity of your workouts as your doctor or physical therapist recommends.

    Caution

    • Always consult with your physician and other health care professionals before beginning or changing any aspect of your exercise regimen while you are taking chemotherapy.

Other Cancers - Related Articles