Exercise and Breast Cancer

At Longevity Studios, we serve clients trying to achieve a vast array of goals. Some of the most inspirational goals are for those clients that are fighting to overcome significant health issues. In this blog, Natasha Atkinson discusses exercising with breast cancer. She has worked with several clients who are survivors of this condition (see testimonial). Working with these clients requires her to be very precise with the exercise program, really listen to their individual needs, and embark a great deal of empathy and understanding. While the exercise helps the body, our trainers are always engaged with their mind and spirit, thus truly assisting to lift them above their circumstance and enhance their survivorship!

Natasha has been in the fitness industry for two decades and understands the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. It’s through this commitment to fitness and living a healthy lifestyle that she expresses her passion and gets her clients to reach their full potential. She enjoys training clients of all fitness levels. She especially enjoys working with women to help them overcome the many barriers they face in their pursuit of fitness. Her certifications include Holistic Lifestyle Coach Level 1 and Exercise Coach from the C.H.E.K.Institute, National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) and American Council on Exercise (ACE) Personal Trainer certifications.

As many of you know, October is breast cancer awareness month. I have been reading the statistics on breast cancer and the numbers are astounding. According to Tricia M. Peters, of U.S. National Cancer Institute (USNCI) in Maryland, who led one study on the subject:

With an estimated 182,460 new cases diagnosed in the United States in 2008, breast cancer is recognized as the most common cancer affecting U.S. women.

As a trainer, I have had the pleasure to work with several clients that have struggled with the surgery and follow up of chemo and radiations treatments. I do say pleasure because these clients come with a different idea of training and a determination that others do not necessarily have. The idea of working out and getting fit has with it the meaning of a real change in nutrition, stress management, and lifestyle … but more importantly, life itself. This change is often overlooked by the general group of people that frequent gyms. I think the word I’m looking for is “awareness”. They come with a new awareness of the quality of life they want for themselves, which makes my job even more rewarding.

Many people do not realize that you can continue to workout while you’re receiving treatments. With a modified exercise program, working out can actually make you feel better. The best exercise program is one that meets you at the level in which you start it and continues to adjust to fit your needs. A regular exercise program can assist with weight gain, maximize body strength, improve body composition, and bone density. This is no different than for the general public. In my observation, what seems to be more valuable to my clients affected with breast cancer is the mental sense of accomplishment that you get from working out. The feeling of determining your own course and putting the control back in your own hands. This strengths the body, energizes the mind, and soothes the soul. All of which, help to offset some of the side effects of chemo and surgeries.

In the fight against breast cancer, exercise does not have all the answers. What it does come down to is that exercise is an integral part of healing yourself and another place to building your community that is going create the environment to boost your cancer survivorship.

Even if you are not impacted by breast cancer yourself, you probably know someone who is. I encourage all women to start activities that could help to prevent it. A reason to start an exercise program is that research has found that exercising more, eating healthier and lowering body fat, could prevent as many as 38 percent of breast cancer cases in the United States alone.

For more information about exercising with breast cancer, or any cancer, checkout the LIVESTRONG website. This site has tremendous amount of information, not just about exercise, but about cancer in general. We support this organization and how it’s trying to help the world!

If breast cancer has affected your life, let us know how by leaving a comment. If you like to contact Natasha, you can through her email, natkinson@longevitystudios.com or by calling the studio at 301-934-8855.