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Taking every opportunity to distribute my marketing material for my new book, I stopped by a children's clothing store one Sunday afternoon. Upon leaving the parking lot, my six year old son caught a glimpse of 'those ribbons with two lines'. In my half-engaged attention, I acknowledged his observation that there were 'more than three' on this one particular car.
From his persistence to gain my feedback, I began to focus on our conversation. I informed him that I was not exactly clear of what he meant by the description of this two-lined ribbon. 'You know...the red one...the boob problem...and the...'. Ground zero! I realized that he was speaking of the Awareness Ribbons that so emphatically adorn various vehicles these days. I started to chuckle at his innocence in remembering my recent 15-minute explanation of breast cancer as 'the boob problem'. After we enjoyed the moment, I struck a more serious note to remember that the disease is far from funny and can leave heartache and devastation in its vicious path. In fact, according to Dr. Susan Love, breast cancer affects 110 women every day.
My first encounter as a Personal Trainer with a recovering breast cancer client came quite a few years ago and meeting her was quite an experience. If you have ever met a breast cancer victor you will notice that their eyes reflect a beautiful understanding of life. My encounter with my client came while I worked at a swim and racquet club. Even the way she approached me was filled with grace. Wanting to strengthen her body after the illness, she inquired about a weight training routine. She had a beaming, yet subtle smile with each simple question that she asked of me. To look at her would never disclose of her recent pain. Her hair was a typical short style of a middle-aged woman and her legs still presented the years of tennis that kept her fit. I was honored to take the position as her trainer and we worked together on a program toward rebuilding her body for not only the purpose of strength and endurance, but to attain a touch of inner peace as well.
Recovery from breast cancer is not so different a program than simply exercising to avoid such a catastrophic event in a woman's life. If you have followed fitness for any amount of time, visited your doctor or taken a class in school, the informative path to righteous living is well paved with getting the blood flowing and the heart pounding. In turn, you increase your chances of avoiding disease (heart-related, cancer, diabetes). Likewise, if you have successfully battled the disease and yearn for a method of attack against it recurring or simply want to lessen the unpleasant after affects, the all-knowing finger will be pointing in the same direction...the local gym.
Even as early as the 1980's, research was proving that aerobic exercise improved fatigue levels and nausea in post cancer patients. Fast forward to present and the benefits have multiplied over the years. Subsequent studies indicate that weight training, aerobic exercise, and fitness emphasizing mind and body (i.e., yoga) all have a substantial impact of up to 25-50% improvement on pain, fatigue, overall optimism, the general fitness level of the individual and how much a person can improve their quality of daily life, complete with energy-draining tasks.
It is clear that exercise plays a tremendous role in helping breast cancer survivors feel better. So what are the details of program design? First and foremost, you want to stay clear of stress on the surgical or stitched area. Next, and just as important, begin with the usual 10-15 minute warm-up, no matter if you are doing weight training sets, a cardio routine or a number of yoga poses. It is after this warm-up that variety begins. For resistance/weight training exercises, you will want to start the initial phase of your program with a lowered weight volume but with up to double the repetitions. Elastic tubing and bands are also a good start for the first phase. Though you may not be directly working the muscle tissue in your surgical area, many muscles work together in stabilizing another muscle's contraction. The lesser weight will insure that your wound is not overexerted to soon. The standard 2-3 sets are appropriate with 15-20 repetitions.
Another area of exercise is that of cardiovascular training. Cardio machines such as the treadmill or elliptical machines are acceptable and can be used for 3-4 days per week. In your initial phase of a recovery fitness routine, you may want to follow an interval program where you begin the session with a higher-intensity minute followed by a low-intensity minute totaling up to thirty minutes. As your condition improves, you can reduce your low intensity minute to 30 seconds and eventually eliminate it all together.
Finally, mind and body exercises such as yoga go a step further in fitness. Not only are you strengthening your body, you are also tapping into inner peace with each slow and controlled breath. Ideal for achieving relaxation, this type of training can be utilized for as little as 5-15 minute a day and still present positive results.
While breast cancer awareness has reached far heights as that of former president, Bill Clinton, who signed the Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention and Treatment Act of 2000, it does not stop the fact that the disease continues to take more and more lives. While a cure is currently elusive, preventative measures are not. Engaging in a fitness program that includes healthy eating, routine exercise and positive mental development is a safe bet of increasing longevity.
Being active, carrying out exercise and breast cancer are known to be linked, with those who are more active having a reduced risk of cancer. But when you're lying in bed warm and comfortable and the alarm goes off for your early morning workout it can be hard to find the motivation to 'get up and go'.
Now a new study examines how a lack of sleep might blunt the effectiveness of all that exercise in reducing your cancer risk.
According to a ten year study of nearly 6,000 women led by James McClain, Ph.D., a cancer prevention fellow at the National Cancer Institute, people at the top half of the physical activity levels had a 25% reduction in their cancer risk.
But, if you were a woman from 18 to 65 years old who got about an hour a day of moderate activity yet slept fewer than 7 hours a night, much of the exercise benefit was lost.
Of course this group still had a reduced risk compared to those women who exercised the least.
The take away message is: be active, but get enough sleep or it won't do you as much good.
The novel research was presented last month during an international meeting in Washington D.C. on cancer prevention hosted by the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).
The next step for researchers is to investigate the mechanisms underlying sleep and exercise to try and understand the role of each in preventing cancer.
"The important thing to remember here is that nobody was protected unless they were active," McClain says. "So I certainly don't think the take-home message is to sacrifice activity to get more sleep. But I think it needs to be more of a conscious thought that both physical activity and sleep are important factors for young to middle-aged women."
There are any number of health problems that come as the result of a lack of sleep…
Glucose intolerance, imbalances of ghrelin and leptin (appetite regulators), increases in C-reactive proteins in the blood as well as other problems.
And of course during sleep our healing processes are engaged allowing our bodies to recover better from exercise. A good nights sleep also reduces the levels of stress hormones in the body, meaning that psychologically you are more able to face the day and any exercise regime you may have planned.
Getting the right amount of sleep for you gives you the energy you need to be more active and function at peak performance throughout the day.
If you find you're struggling to sleep, which many people do as they age be sure to practice good sleep habits to ensure you get the rest you need.
The study didn't make specific recommendations on how much exercise would be enough, but McClain suggest using the government's physical activity guidelines as a starting point. They suggest getting at least 5 hours of modest exercise, or 2½ hours of intense exercise per week.
The good thing is that normal household chores slot under the modest exercise banner, so you can count that towards your total for the week.
Many women understand the link between exercise and breast cancer, and are starting to increase their levels of activity, but the link between sleep and cancer shines a new light on the need to also ensure sufficient rest is taken each day as well.