Exercise during treatment ?

Hi NicolaPie 

I’m Steph and I’m part of the team who look after the Online Community here at Macmillan. Whilst you're awaiting replies from other members, I thought I would pop in to offer some support.

Please do speak to your nurse about exercising during treatment - they can give you advice personal to you. There may be additional support or classes available in your area that they can help connect you with.

We have some information here about exercising safely when you have cancer which might be helpful for you to have a read through. 

On the website we also have a story from Karen about the benefit of exercising during cancer. Although she has a different diagnosis to you, she shares some advice that might be helpful

By replying here, we have bumped your post so hopefully more members will see it and share their experience of exercise during cancer treatment.

We also have a Macmillan Support Line if you have questions or just want to talk things through with someone who is there to listen.  Our Support Line teams are available 7 days a week, 8am-8pm on freephone 0808 808 00 00, email or live webchat.

Hi Nicola,

I exercised throughout 8 months of treatment and found it so beneficial. Mentally I felt so much better after moving and I am convinced it reduced significantly the side effects of chemo. I would often arrive feeling fatigued, and leave feeling charged up.

I had the opposite problem to you in that I lost weight during cancer treatment (which I don't think people realise is terrifying!), so the exercise helped me to keep some muscle mass. I carried on doing classes at my regular gym, but I tried to go at quieter times when I knew there would be less people and adapted the level of intensity when needed and with the guidance of coaches. I did a mix of strength and cardio. Even if I had no hair and everyone knew that I was having cancer treatment, it always felt like a nice escape from the cancer world to feel like a regular person doing an exercise class (rather than a patient) and people were so kind and supportive.

Exercise doesn't have to be focused on weight loss, but if it will help you to feel better and more confident about yourself and there is no medical reason to not exercise, then I would say go for it. You can judge what your limits are and what you are capable of xx