Exercise choices

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There are over 50 official exercise activities available and, with health and fitness becoming vogue, the opportunities for individuals to find an activity which suits them are improving all the time. The essential thing is that it should not just be a passing fad but be a way of life.

The ultimate choice of course depends on numerous factors such as local availability, individual abilities, previous experience and preferences, what friends and family also like to do, cost and time pressures. If this activity is to be sustained, the fundamental issues are that it should be enjoyable and convenient. There is little point driving an hour to put yourself through torture – even the most motivated will give this up pretty quickly.    

Walking In addition to integrating walking in our daily duties, social walking groups are available in many areas and are a good way to meet new people, view interesting scenery and exercise to a variety of ability levels. Numerous walking groups exist around the country often meeting once or twice a week.

Golf is a good encouragement to walk and clubs are available throughout the world for all levels.

Cycling socially with the family or part of a daily commute, even if only once or twice a week, can be fun and even save money. Consider buying a bike with a basket or fenders for the shopping.

Gym - Joining the local gym is always a good start. As well as the running, cycling and rowing machines there are numerous other aerobic exercise machines which can be fun. A good gym will have qualified personal trainers who can break you in gently and be considerate to your individual’s preferences, abilities and needs. Paying money every month is also a good incentive to use it. Even if you feel overweight or unfit, do not worry many people are in the same situation and nobody worth knowing will criticise anyone for trying.

Exercise classes - There are numerous enjoyable ways to exercise in groups at a variety of levels. Many of these are available at the local gym or sports hall. The most common classes include aerobics, water aerobics (a good one to start with), spinning (cycling in a group- quite challenging), body pump and circuit training. Once a level of fitness has been achieved higher and often more diverse forms of exercises unfold from boxing and kick boxing classes, Jazz funk aerobics, rock climbing and core stability classes.

Stretching classes - Stretching is essential before and after any exercise. Yoga and pilates are fantastic for balance and core strength both of which are often impaired by cancer treatments especially if steroids have also been given, for example during chemotherapy. They are also recommended for joint and muscle subtlety and posture. Don’t worry if you can’t even touch your toes, yoga and pilates are not about the lotus position anymore, individuals with any level of flexibility can gain major benefits if conducted regularly.

Sport - Traditional sports are often be overshadowed by the hype surrounding the trendy genre of “Thai pilates, street dancing, meditation classes” but they remain excellent outlets for stress and exercise. They often require more organisation than simply turning up for a class as they usually involve a group. Your local sports centre, however, sometimes brings groups together without having to organise it yourself for a range of activities from 5-aside football, squash, tennis, badminton, basketball, volleyball and netball. Not all tennis clubs are expensive and do not require you to be an expert. Most have group lessons for all abilities and social communal days where individuals can join in. Athletics clubs, although generally gearing for the young often have different age categories and running groups of different abilities.

Swimming  -Many pools offer classes to learn to swim, classes for disabled, single sex, or water aerobics. Swimming is particularly good for building up stamina whilst protecting most of the weight baring the joints. On a word of caution, however, breast stroke is not so good for the knees and crawl can aggravate shoulder and neck problems.

Dance - There are numerous dance classes available in most towns either in private or municipal gyms or dance studios. The most common choices include conventional ballroom, line dancing, rock & roll, tango, ceroc and salsa. Some traditional studios offer ballet and the more avant-garde jazz funk and even street dance.

There are numerous other ideas for exercise groups but if all else fails there is always the fall back of buying a good pair of training shoes and jogging around the block or local park.

Further general information Your doctors and specialist nurses are in an ideal position to give you relevant information on your disease and treatment as they know your individual circumstances. Cancerbackup has a help line (0808 800 1234) and a prize winning video available in English, Italian, Urdu, Bengali, Gujarati & Hindi explaining Radiotherapy & Chemotherapy. Cancernet.co.uk has over 500 pages describing cancer, its management, practical tips and tool which patients, their carers and their doctors have found helpful during the cancer journey.