10. Moving Well - Physical Activity

March 19, 2023

In the last few articles I focussed on eating well as one of the pillars of recovering well. Now it’s time to focus on moving well. 

There is a key difference between eating well and moving well 

Exercise is different from eating in that we have to actively pursue it whereas we are hardwired to eat.

Our body is geared to make sure that we eat, and no matter how busy we are, sooner or later we will make time to eat (even if it's suboptimal food that we are shovelling in while rushing to something else). 

The point is, if you haven’t eaten for a while your motivation to do so will increase over time. 

I have found exercise to be the opposite. It’s easier to not exercise than to exercise - from both a time/ schedule standpoint and an effort point of view. You may even find that the less you exercise the less you are motivated to. I know for myself if I miss one day then I am fine, but if I miss 3 days in a row of exercising then getting back to it requires a lot of effort and willpower. The upside to this is that regular practice of exercising can keep you motivated to exercise. 

Exercise is something that needs to be actively and intentionally included in our daily lives. 

Recovering after cancer treatments also adds a layer of complication. You may be restricted in what you can do to begin with, and of course you may not have the energy or mobility that you once had. 

No matter where you start from, exercise supports recovery. 

Even those with burnout or adrenal fatigue are encouraged to add exercise to their daily life. 

In fact, when I was looking into cancer when I was first diagnosed exercise being important for health, wellness and mental well-being seemed to be universally agreed on. 

In her book Radical Hope (Turner, White 2020), Kelly A. Turner suggests reframing exercise and physical activity. This allows for moving your body everyday beyond day to day moving in a way that is healthful. 

Turner also mentions that moderate to intense exercise is one of the best things cancer patients can do to support their healing. But what is moderate to intense exercise? 

There are many variations on the ideal, New Zealand's Cancer Prevention Report suggests at least 30 minutes a day for adults and 1 hour a day for children of exercise. 

This seems to be fairly standard advice, however when recovering from surgery it might be an achievement to sit for a while and do the remedial exercises that have been set for you. 

You need to start from where you are and build up, arguably always extending yourself without pushing too far. 

For example, when I was starting to recover from surgery and doing chemotherapy I remember walking to the end of the road (which wasn’t far) and thinking, I could go further but I don’t think I would be able to make it back then! 

Another example of extending (or exerting) yourself is there is a hill near where I live that I walk most days. It doesn’t ever seem to get easier, and while I am doing the same activity I am actually still challenging myself by having to put extra effort into the “workout”. 

So far I have cited from a book on recovery from cancer and a report on preventing cancer. How can we be sure this relates to recovering well? 

My first reason for including exercise in recovering well is from medical advice. As you will probably have experienced yourself, after surgery the goal is to get you up and moving as soon as possible to aid recovery. 

Further to that, I have found parallels with stress/ burnout recovery and recovering well from cancer treatments. 

In a nutshell all roads lead to moving with intention daily with the goal of 30 minutes a day. Luckily exercise brings its own rewards in the form of feel good hormones, endorphins. 

You will, of course, need to take into consideration your own situation and medical advice when it comes to exercising. 

Exercise needs to do more for us now

Following cancer treatments you might find that exercise now has to do more than support fitness and release endorphins. I shudder to think how restricted my ability to move well would be, and how much harder that would make daily life when I contemplate not having the range of motion that comes from movement that I do regularly to support moving well. 

When looking at different exercise options these are my criteria: 

Beneficial for strength, flexibility or cardiovascular fitness

Enjoyable

Maintainable - both from a schedule perspective and location/ extra effort. 

Flexible depending on what I am currently able to do

Challenging enough to extend my ability without being likely to cause harm/ complications. 

Time effective!! 

What are your criteria? 

Next Article

Over the next couple of articles I will go into further detail of options and share what I have tried and my conclusions. Your challenge is to find what works best for you.  

References

Cancer Control Agency. “Cancer Prevention Report.” Pūrongo Ārai Mate Pukupuku Cancer Prevention Report, 7 April 2022, https://hcmsitesstorage.blob.core.windows.net/cca/assets/Cancer_Prevention_V12_7_April22_05c46c078b.pdf. Accessed 17 March 2023.

Kavermann, Tim. “Burnout, Depression and Recovery by Tim Kavermann.” First Steps, https://firststeps.nz/burnout-depression-and-recovery/. Accessed 17 March 2023.

Turner, White, Kelly A, Tracy. Radical Hope. Hay House, 2020.

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