Meet Mona, she’s my inner demon. Well… if I can pick a name for part of myself, I might as well choose something that kind of rhymes with Fiona (most people call me Fi anyway).
Mona is the name I’ve given to the inner demon (or witch) we all have. You know the one. She leads us astray and turns even the most solid of resolutions into dust. Whispering things like;
“there’s only a few more biscuits in the packet… You might as well eat them all now before they go stale.”
Or…
“you don’t have time to exercise because you have NO time.” But in the same breath, slags you off for having a fat belly.
Mona sabotaged all kinds of promises and pledges I made before cancer. Breaking my willpower and teasing me to the point where I simply gave up on even trying to be healthy.
However, following my diagnosis, I’ve been reading more of Dr Kathryn Schmitz’s fantastic book on exercise oncology and I must say, it’s given me a real boot up the butt.
Dr Schmitz is a Professor of Public Health Sciences at Penn State College of Medicine and Penn State Cancer Institute. She specialises in connecting anyone affected by cancer with ‘appropriate’ exercise training. Be they patients, carers, friends or loved ones, her mission is simply to empower people through movement and exercise.
Now, I don’t want to steal her thunder or heaven forbid, jeopardise any potential sales. But in short, here’s what her book Moving Through Cancer has to say:
Cancer diagnosis and treatment doesn't have to be a passive experience, and it shouldn't be. […] Moving Through Cancer will show you how to use exercise and movement to:
• Recover more quickly from surgery
• Withstand chemotherapy (or other drug treatments )and radiotherapy with fewer side effects
• Bounce back to daily life following cancer treatments
• Prevent loss of function or fitness due to treatment
• Return to work more quickly or stay at work throughout treatment
• Protect against late side effects of treatment that come years after diagnosis
In other words, her book is about using the science of exercise as an additional cancer treatment. Of course it’s a bit more complex than that, but still written in a way that’s easy to understand and offers an extensive fitness and nutrition guide.
But like anything in life that’s worth doing, you have to put your back into it and a zip on your inner demon first, then it’s 20 plus minutes of physical activity per day.
Not that you should take my word for it.
The World Health Organisation recognises the importance of exercise for people with cancer, and have developed cancer specific exercise guidelines that include ‘at least 150 mins [2.5 hours] of moderate intensity physical activity each week’.
But what exactly is moderate intensity physical activity?
Well, after participating in a study on ‘integrating exercise into cancer care’, I recently spoke with a senior research associate of behavioural medicine at Loughborough University. Interestingly, she said that any activity that gets you moving fast enough to burn more energy per minute than you would whilst sitting, would count as a moderate intensity physical activity.
Examples include:
· Walking briskly
· Cleaning the house
· Mowing the lawn
· Cycling
· Or any aerobic exercise
To put the above examples into perspective, that’s as little as walking, cleaning or cycling for 30 minutes a day, five days a week.
What’s more, research has found that the benefits of physical activity for people living with and beyond a cancer diagnosis may not only ‘help reduce the risk of cancer returning’, but also support the management of ‘treatment related side effects such as fatigue, mood and overall quality of life’.
With that said, the one-arm row video at the top of this page is one example of how I’m incorporating Dr Schmitz’s recommended exercises into my daily activities to help build upper back strength, and improve mobility after breast cancer surgery.
Of course, you and I both know that it’s sometimes hard to think about exercising, especially when your inner demon derails all willpower. But even though I’m still going through cancer treatment, I plan to stay fit and well for as long as possible and exercise, I’m convinced, will help me do just that.
So, if like me you want to put a zip on your inner Mona and build a back, read Moving Through Cancer - it’s a real game changer in supporting you with exercise from head to toe.
One last thing…
Although I’m a big fan of Dr Schmitz and her work, I don’t receive any payment for mentioning her book. Instead, I just recommend what the research and science are telling us.
However, I do share the Double C newsletter @cowan_fiona on Twitter and after posting a link to my last video ‘exercising through cancer’, was delighted to receive a mention and retweet from Dr Kathryn Schmitz herself which perhaps, was the best reward of all.
You can find Dr Schmitz’s book at: https://www.movingthroughcancer.com/
But in the meantime, it would be good to hear what YOU think about exercise, cancer and indeed, the Double C newsletter. So please add your thoughts in the comments box below, as they really will help me to include your views in future Double C posts.
Build a back and put a zip on it