Exercise for Wellness

If ever there was time to get serious about exercising for Breast Cancer Wellness,
it's right now .

Exercise for wellness? Stretching? Walking? Oh, yes! If ever there was a time to get serious about doing some type of gentle exercise, it’s right NOW, when you are on your Breast Cancer Wellness path.

You may not feel like doing much exercise after surgery and cancer treatments, but moving your body has enormous health benefits.

Everyone knows that exercise burns calories that help you keep your weight under control.

But more importantly, exercise keeps your heart pumping to circulate blood around your body, and powers your lymphatic system to haul away waste products and toxins from your muscles and tissues.

Rebounding is an easy fun way to exercise and reduce fluid build up. And it has so many other health benefits, too!

After my second operation on the lymph nodes, I included gentle stretching exercises by reaching as far as I could above my head.

This overhead stretching prevented any underarm scar tissue from ‘seizing up’ which could result in one arm ‘shorter’ than the other arm. Very soon I had full function back and could stretch up evenly with both arms.

A note of caution re Lymphedema:

The build-up of lymphatic fluid causes swelling in the arm.

Most of the time, your body can adapt to these changes without excess fluid accumulating in the arm on the side of the breast surgery.

However, lymphedema can occur from overusing that arm or from an infection, bug bite, cut or some other type of injury that causes excess fluid to build up that the body cannot remove.

Lymphedema is not only painful but unsightly.

From now on, avoid having injections or your blood-pressure readings taken on this particular arm.

Don’t lift heavy objects and avoid drastic temperature changes, such as soaking too long in a hot tub.

Consider lymph-drainage massage treatments, and wear a compression bandage on aircraft as the pressure differences can affect lymphatic limbs.

And continue to do gentle stretching exercises for Breast Cancer Wellness.

Exercise is a double-whammy for cancer-prevention!

The fund’s head of science and research, Dr Greg Martin, stated that the very act of being physically active seems to reduce the risk of cancers such as colorectal cancer and post-menopausal breastcancer.

Exercising for wellness not only reduces cancer risk in its own right, but someone who is physically active is also less likely to be carrying excess body fat.

And because we know that body fat is closely linked to a range of cancers, this means it is doubly important we are physically active and continue to exercise for wellness.

What type of exercise?

I love walking. I love looking at houses and gardens. So, three times a week I exercise for wellness by setting off before breakfast for a brisk 30-minute walk around our neighborhood.

Fortunately, I live in a mild climate in a pleasant area about 10 minutes from a water-bird sanctuary on the river. There’s always something new to see, and people walking their dogs or jogging by.

The other four days of the week I join my husband for some weight-bearing exercises at home following a popular exercise video.

Instead of walking around the streets, I have a few girlfriends who prefer the safety and privacy of indoors, where they pedal their exercise cycles or bounce up and down on their Rebounder mini-trampolines in time to the beat of their favourite music.

You may take the opportunity to join a local health club or gym and incorporate some weight-bearing exercises into your exercise program.

It doesn’t matter which exercise you choose, just do it!
Remember - you are exercising for wellness!

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