by David Haas, guest blogger
Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance
If you’re going through mesothelioma treatment, lung cancer treatment or treatment for other forms of cancer, building your strength and stamina is extra important. Chemotherapy and radiation therapy can zap you of energy and change your overall appearance. Exercising and eating healthy foods can restore your energy, reduce the risk of cancer resurgence, improve your strength and boost your mood.
Improving Strength
Feeling weaker than usual during your cancer treatments? Try exercising daily to improve your strength. Fatigue is a common side-effect of many treatments such as chemotherapy and blood transfusions. Your body often causes you to feel sleepy when it’s repairing itself from these forms of treatment. However, you can help improve you strength during this time and fight fatigue by exercising. Simple daily exercises such as stair climbing or using resistance bands can improve your strength and give you better rest a night, helping you to beat those daytime naps.
Improving Muscle Appearance
Certain cancer treatments or medication can cause your muscles to waste, to increase your muscle mass, you have to challenge your muscles with heavy weights. This doesn’t mean you have to work out like a bodybuilder, but you do need to increase the amount of weight you usually lift. When you lift heavier weights you cause your muscles to work harder, this causes the fibers in your muscles to expand, making them larger and more defined. If you are currently lifting 10-pound weights, try adding an extra 2-5 pounds of weight for two weeks, then gradually increase the weight by 2 pounds every other week.
Defeat Depression
After being diagnosed with cancer or going through a bout of aggressive treatment, you may start to feel anxious or depressed. Although your doctor can prescribe medications that are used to reduce these feelings, studies have shown that exercise can alone help diminish feelings of both anxiety and depression. Although doctors aren’t exactly sure why exercising has this benefit, they agree that during exercise, feel-good chemicals are released from the brain and the body temperature may increases slightly, both leading to a better mood. Begin improving your mood today by gardening, washing your car or simply walking around the block a few times.
Reducing Chronic Ailments
If you’re in remission from cancer, your doctor will relate to you the importance of continuing a nutritious diet and taking part in daily exercise to help keep your cancer from returning. According to WebMD, studies show that taking part in daily exercise not only lengthens your life-span after being diagnosed with cancer, but it also reduces the risk of it coming back. You don’t have to run a marathon to benefit from these results, instead just take part in aerobic exercises like swimming or brisk walking daily for at least 30 minutes a day. Aerobic exercises also strengthen your heart and reduce your risk of developing heart disease.