National Fitness Day. This motivational day sets out to celebrate the power of physical fitness has to change lives. National Fitness Day gives each of us a voice to share how fitness empowers us.
When you are impacted by cancer the last thing you want to do is create a fitness plan, right? The thought of even walking around the block makes you tired. Treatment is exausting and surgery is painful so isn’t it just easier to sleep and lay on the couch?
“Research has shown that in many cases, moderate exercise before, during and after treatment can vastly eliminate fatigue and improve quality of life.”
Jenny Spencer of “Fight The Fatigue,” stresses that for most warriors, exercising isn’t going to be about running a marathon or transforming into a bodybuilder. She uses exercise as a tool to improve a warrior’s everyday physical functioning. In this sense, exercise has not only physical benefits but emotional and cognitive benefits, too.
According to a 2015 study in Journal of Physiotherapy, “Supervised physical activity has a favorable effect on cancer-related fatigue when compared with conventional care,” and is effective in the management of cancer-related fatigue for all types of cancer. Exercising under the guidance of a health professional improves adherence and intensity, as well as provides a sense of encouragement and confidence to the warrior.
If you are in treatment, consider talking with your doctors about physical therapy or exercises they recommend. Liv & Let recently shared a blog post from Occupational Therapist and yoga instructor Kara Lyons regarding exercise after breast surgery.
If you are out of treatment and looking for a way to exercise, join others today and try something new! Here are our recommendations!
Trampoline: If you are looking to stay at home check out The Ness and Bellicon. If you are comfortable with leaving the house there are trampoline parks that may not have an instructor led class, but you can bounce freely and get your heart pumping.
Jump Rope: Don’t you remember as a kid at gym class jump roping with the white and red or white and blue plastic jump ropes. Amanda Kloots has taken jump roping to a whole new level! Check out her classes and her personalized jump rope!
Boxing: Fighting is the original spectator sport. We aren’t suggesting you go out and fight, but maybe you look into boxing or kickboxing. It’s a way to push yourself, get your heart rate up, tone and burn your abs and booty.
Dancing! Dance! Dance!
If you aren’t ready for something super new with the summer approach, take a nice walk, draw out a hopscotch 1-30 and challenge yourself to throw your hopscotch marker to “30” and hop back and forth 30 times!
Need some inspiration? Find out what inspires others. Discover what others find empowering about fitness. Use #NationalFitnessDay to share on social media.