Physical activity

Being more active can really help while you are living with cancer or recovering from cancer treatment. It is safe for you to be more active before, during and after cancer treatment. Being active has many benefits when you have cancer. It can:

• Reduce tiredness (fatigue)
• Reduce anxiety and depression
• Help you keep to a healthy weight
• Strengthen your muscles
• Improve bone health
• Improve your flexibility and ability to stretch
• Improve balance.

We also know that regular exercise can reduce your risk of developing cancer. 

Being physically active can mean doing simple daily activities, such as housework, gardening or walking to the shops. But it can also mean exercising more energetically, for example dancing, running or cycling. It is worth trying to find something that you really enjoy.

The type of exercise you do will depend on what stage you are at with cancer treatment. It will also depend on which activities you enjoy. Your level of fitness will also affect the amount of activity you can do. Please talk to your Cancer Nurse Specialist about this if you need some advice.

The NHS recommends that you should try to do regular physical activity at least 30 minutes every day, even taking a walk as your 30 minutes of exercise is good for you. If you are able to do harder (vigorous) exercise like aerobics or playing tennis for 30 minutes a day this can further reduce your risk of cancer developing.

You might be nervous about starting a physical activity plan, especially if you were not very active before your cancer treatment. You may worry that you are too tired or that you might injure yourself. But research shows that even a little activity is better than no activity at all. As you start to feel more confident, you can slowly build up the amount of physical activity you do.