Your secret weapon during cancer treatment? Exercise! Don't stop moving. Research confirms that exercising can help you not just survive but thrive during and after cancer.
The evidence keeps rolling in: Exercise can be one of your most important cancer treatments. For anyone dealing with a cancer diagnosis, that's great news. Starting  or maintaining an exercise program can empower you to move out of a more passive "patient" role; it'll help improve not just your well-being but your attitude, too.
Sara Mansfield, M.S., a certified cancer exercise trainer at Mayo Clinic Healthy Living Program, says physical activity can help people before, during and after cancer treatment. "Loving family members may be urging a person with a cancer diagnosis to rest," she says, "but that can lead to a functional decline. Research tells us, in general, it's better to move more than less."
Mansfield recommends that any person with cancer first discuss an exercise program with his or her health care provider. Once you've got the green light, she says, start moving. If you've been sedentary for a while, start walking, which will help build muscle and stamina.
Exercise benefits Many research studies support the idea that exercising during cancer treatment helps you feel better. Some of the documented benefits include:

• Reduced depression and anxiety
• Increased energy and strength
• Reduced pain

Worried that it might not be safe? There's evidence to the contrary. For instance, when researchers reviewed 61 studies involving women with stage 2 breast cancer, they found that a combination of aerobic and resistance exercise was not only safe, it also improved health outcomes. Other studies have found that exercise during treatment can actually change the tumor microenvironment and trigger stronger anti-tumor activity in your immune system. And very recent animal studies have found that exercise can lead to tumor reduction in rodents.
Physical activity also helps you manage your weight, which is an important cancer risk factor. In fact, research has linked being overweight or obese to an increased risk of many types of cancer, including endometrial, esophageal, liver, pancreas and breast cancers. There's also increasing evidence that being overweight may lead to a higher risk of cancer recurrence and even cancer-related death.
All those health benefits associated with exercise during cancer treatment sound good, right? So maybe it's time to get started.
Exercise guidelines The physical activity guidelines for people with cancer are similar to those recommended for everyone: 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity every week. Not quite ready for that level of exercise? Follow Mansfield's recommendations:

• If you can't start at 150 minutes a week, be as active as you are able.
• Once cleared to do so by your surgeon, return to normal daily activities as quickly as possible after surgery.
• Do some kind of resistance training (weightlifting, resistance bands) at least twice a week.
• Stay flexible with regular stretching.
• Incorporate balance exercises into your daily routines.

One thing Mansfield emphasizes is that researchers are actively focused on studying the benefits of exercise for people with cancer and cancer survivors. Researchers are learning more every day. And, she says, it's getting easier to find cancer exercise trainers certified by the American College of Sports Medicine who specialize in working with both people undergoing cancer treatment and cancer survivors.
"Your treatment may have left you feeling like you have a different body," says Mansfield, "but you can take charge after this life-changing event and really improve your quality of life."

               Staying active can help you lower your risk of many types of cancer
Exercise helps you maintain a healthy weight. Being overweight or obese raises your risk for several cancers.

• Exercise helps your body regulate hormone levels. Increased levels of some Hormones can increase your cancer risk.
• Exercise speeds digestion, which may reduce the time that potentially harmful substances are in the colon.

Sit less.           Extended periods of sitting increase your cancer risk, even if you exercise regularly. Sitting too much also increases your risk for obesity, which leads to cancer and other chronic diseases.  Try to get up and move for at least one to two minutes every hour that you are awake.
Get active.      The American College of Sports Medicine recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 minutes vigorous exercise each week. It’s best to do a combination of both, and you don’t have to do it all at one time. You can split up your activity into short intervals of as little as 10 minutes.
During moderate exercise, you should be able to talk, but not sing. Examples of moderate activities include walking, yoga and mowing the lawn.
During vigorous activity, you can say a few words, but you can’t hold a conversation. Examples of vigorous activity include running or jogging, fast bicycling and swimming.
Build strength.           Perform muscle strengthening exercises at least twice a week. Strength training helps you maintain a healthy weight by building muscle, which boosts your metabolism. Strength training, also called resistance training, should be done in addition to moderate and vigorous exercise.