Is Lifting Weights Safe for People with Cancer?
Cancer patients and survivors that lift weights live healthier and longer lives. Enter The Recovery Room to learn the basics of a good cancer weight lifting prescription!
If you are in the middle of cancer treatments or in the middle of cancer survivorship, is it okay for you to lift weights? Should you be lifting weights? The answer is absolutely YES!
But then the next questions are. What muscle groups should I be working on? How much weight should be I lifting? How many repetitions? How many times/days and how many times per week? That is called an exercise prescription and every cancer patient and survivor should be one that includes lifting weights, regardless if you have early or late-stage disease.
I’m Cancer Therapy Expert, Dr. Leslie Waltke, and you are in The Recovery Room.
If you don’t have an exercise prescription, talk to one of your medical oncology providers about getting you to a physical therapist that can help design one specifically for you. Until then, here is a handful of general rules to follow.
Regardless of age, gender, or type of cancer, it will always be good if you can strengthen both your arms and legs so your weightlifting routine should include exercises that increase strength in both the arms and legs.
As far as how much weight to lift; a good rule of thumb is, if you pick up a weight and you cannot do 10 repetitions in a row, the weight is too heavy. On the other end of the scale, if you are picking up a weight and you can do 30 repetitions and not feeling any muscle fatigue, it’s probably not enough weight. So, if you stick between 10 and 30 repetitions, you are in a good place. We typically recommend that you lift weights just 1 time a day, about 3 times, giving your muscles a day off in between to rest and recover.
The research clearly shows that cancer patients and survivors who lift weights do much better than those who don’t. A stronger body leads to a better and longer life.
I’m Dr. Leslie Waltke, in The Recovery Room. We’ll talk again soon.