Brest-Cancer Physical Activity !!!

Regular physical activity can help maintain or improve your health during and after treatment, and can:

• help avoid or reduce some side effects of cancer treatment – such as fatigue, weight gain, osteoporosis and lymphoedema


• improve your long-term health, reducing the risk of heart attacks and strokes, and may reduce the risk of the cancer coming back


• help your mental wellbeing by reducing anxiety, stress, depression and improving your overall mood


• prevent or reduce the loss of muscle tone and aerobic fitness that can happen during treatment.

Any amount of activity is better than none; if you struggle to do 150 minutes, start by trying to reduce the time you spend sitting down or being inactive and gradually increase this over time. Examples of moderate-intensity activities are:

• brisk walking


• cycling


• hiking or hill walking


• water aerobics or swimming


• gardening or housework


• dancing.

A combination of different types of activity can be more interesting, and will exercise different parts of your body. Physical activity can also be a social event if you join a group, such as our walking group There are many ways to include physical activity in your daily routine. The following tips may help.

• If you enjoy walking, try to increase the amount of time you walk for and the number of times you walk each day. You could also try increasing your pace as your energy returns. A pedometer (or a pedometer app for your phone) can help you monitor your progress.


• Energetic housework can help increase your daily activity levels.


• If you drive to work or the shops, park your car a little further away and walk the rest.


• Get off the bus a stop earlier than you need to and walk.


• Use the stairs instead of talking the lift.


• Try to sit less and stand more, for example when talking on the phone.

Setting realistic goals and keeping a record of how much activity you do may help you stay motivated.