Dealing with cancer can often increase our level of psychological stress. Exercise can reduce this stress and is therefore an excellent way to arm yourself against the negative effects of cancer.
Exercising can make cancer treatments work better in your body. It can also stimulate our own internal anticancer processes by, for example, boosting our immune system.
A review by Chan et al1🔬 on the Therapeutic Benefits of Physical Activity for Mood wrote:
“In contemporary society, people experience considerable stress in their daily lives. Therefore, developing effective approaches and convenient means to cope with their mood problems is important nowadays. “
“Physical activity has been consistently reported as a cost-effective way to improve physical fitness, prevent mental illnesses, and alleviate mood problems…the effects of exercise intensity, duration, and modality on mood change are discussed. “
“Results show that moderate-intensity anaerobic exercise is associated with greater mood improvements.”
“The relationship between exercise duration and mood change is non-linear; A regime of 10- to 30-minute exercise is sufficient for mood improvements.”
A review by Guszkowska 2🔬 of the effects of exercise on anxiety, depression and mood had similar positive findings:
“The meta-analyses of correlational and experimental studies reveal positive effects of exercise, in healthy people and in clinical populations (also in patients with emotional disorders) regardless of gender and age.”
“The benefits are significant especially in subjects with an elevated level of anxiety and depression because of more room for possible change. The most improvements are caused by rhythmic, aerobic exercises, using of large muscle groups (jogging, swimming, cycling, walking), of moderate and low intensity. “
“They should be conducted for 15 to 30 minutes and performed a minimum of three times a week in programs of 10-weeks or longer. The results confirm the acute effect of exercise i.e. the reductions in anxiety and depression after single sessions of exercise.”
“The changes in anxiety, depression and mood states after exercise are explained most frequently by the endorphin and monoamine hypotheses. Exercise may also increase body temperature, blood circulation in the brain and impact on hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and physiological reactivity to stress.”
” The possible psychological mechanisms include improvement of self-efficacy, distraction and cognitive dissonance.”
What type of exercise?
If you don’t exercise and are not sure where to start, you can think about types of exercise that are free and without constraints such as walking. To make it more interesting you could take a dog with you on your walks. A friend’s dog will do if you don’t have one of your own.
I have a variety of walks, running routes, riding tracks and surf breaks that I choose depending on the weather conditions, how much time I have and how interesting they are. It may be that you find a broader range of interesting walks or trails to do by catching the train or driving for a while to reach them.
If you are starting out with exercising, you can make your sessions easier and more achievable by starting off with short durations and flat terrain. Prior to setting out, it feels good to do a few minutes of stretching exercises to warm up with. This helps to prevent tissue injury.
I have found that choosing a routine that mimics the physical motions of the exercise type I’m about to do is much more effective than spending time and energy on disparate ones.
The times I have especially noticed this is during winter when my muscles and joints are cold. On these days without a longer warm-up I have felt stiff and on the edge of pulling a tendon or muscle.
This is TARGETING CANCER with both movement and the mind. A double win!
Even indoor exercises and those done from your bed can be beneficial to the body and mind.
Of course, it is worth checking with your doctors about any new exercise regime especially if exercise is new to you.
How do I know what the optimal exercise session for my mind is?
- Choose a variety of difficulties, from easy to challenging for different moods or time constraints.
- Record your exercise sessions with the free My Physical Exercise Worksheet.
- Rate your mental state before and after exercise to see your gains and help discover your optimum exercise type and timing.
The My Physical Exercise Worksheet is your easy way to record details such as difficulty of sessions and mood ratings before and after to help you determine your best workout type.
Measuring your mind like this is an easy way to know what works and what doesn’t. I find measuring this helps a lot with motivation to get out there and get into it!
For the FREE Interactable Tool to discover your optimum workout session, pop your email in the box below.
References🔬
- Chan JSY, Liu G, Liang D, Deng K, Wu J, Yan JH. Special Issue – Therapeutic Benefits of Physical Activity for Mood: A Systematic Review on the Effects of Exercise Intensity, Duration, and Modality. J Psychol. 2019;153(1):102-125
- Guszkowska M. [Effects of exercise on anxiety, depression and mood]. Psychiatr Pol. 2004;38(4):611-620.