Oct. 5, 2011
What about Breast Cancer? (On The News)
October is breast cancer awareness month and many businesses are donating percentages of earnings to breast cancer research. It is great to see people come together behind an issue that affects hundreds of thousands of women each year.
Why am I interested in this?
- Our clientele is about 80% female and many are in menopause or post menopause which is a higher risk time.
- Also my wife is a woman and she has two of those breast things. I love her like crazy and can only imagine how tough it is to see a wife, daughter, or mother battle breast cancer.
We even took this message on the news – thanks to 13 wham news in rochester, ny.
At tall trainer we want to do something to help.
We don’t have millions we can send to cancer research (we will send some) but what we do have is some specialty skills, that we have developed over years of working as personal trainers, to help women after they have had breast cancer.
We are donating a FREE one on one personal training session to as many breast cancer survivors we can fit in. (I bet we can fit 30-40 of these sessions in this month). If you are a survivor contact us at admin@talltrainer.com or (800)380-7047.
Exercise is going to be an important part of their recovery and return to living. A cancer battle can leave a body weakened and more susceptible for a repeat or 
other illness. Exercise can boost the immune system, regain strength, boost confidence, and bring some positives changes to their bodies after many negative but necessary changes.
I have also put together some suggestions for getting started in fitness and exercise (after you are cleared by your doctor of course):
1.) Move. Even if it is only walking to start. Some studies are returning finding that even walking 3-5 days a week can result in lower risks of recurrence.
2.) Work on range of motion first – especially after surgery. Getting the body moving in the full range of motion will help to decrease pain and allow you to return to more of your regular activity.
3.) Use resistance training to build back muscles in the upper and lower body. This should be done with slower repetitions but can still be done with good intensity. I recommend a compression sleeve be worn when working out.
- Suggested exercises
i. Chair Sits or Lunges – strengthen legs
ii. Push-ups on counter top – Upper Body
iii. Field Goal Stretch – for posture and range of motion
iv. Plank or prone abs – to strengthen the middle
4.) Eat healthy – fruits and vegetables – Dramatic decrease in Cancer Risks
5.) Eat and exercise to lose some excess body fat. You may have gained some additional weight in the recovery process. There is a link between being overweight and getting breast cancer.
***WARNING***
Fat is a storage area for calories but it is also a place where excess hormones and toxins are stored as you lose fat you release some of these back into the blood stream. Because of this, weight loss for the cancer surviver should be done at a moderate pace to allow the body time to process these without being overwhelmed. If it were me (or my wife or mother) I would lean more towards 1 pound per week at the high end.
To the ladies and young ladies without breast cancer:
I ignored the non-changeable list of cancer risks like heredity, etc. I did that because I wanted to focus you on the things the American Cancer Society said were risks that we do have control over. If you want to decrease your risks, follow these guidelines.
Lifestyle related Breast cancer risks – Straight from the American Cancer Society
1.) Having Children – (or having children before 30) you have a lower risk of getting breast cancer. (they think it relates to having fewer lifetime menstrual cycles)
2.) Recent Oral Contraceptive Use – Slightly greater risk of breast cancer. If longer than 10 years ago there is no apparent risk increase. (more cause for concern for getting cancer as a younger woman)
3.) Hormone replacement therapy – increased risk in some studies.
4.) Breast feeding – Might slightly lower risks especially if breast feeding is carried over for 1.5-2 years. (not very common)
5.) Alcohol – is clearly linked to increased risk of developing breast cancer. The more alcohol the more risk. Even one drink a day has a slightly increased risk compared to non-drinkers. (ACS recommends no more than 1 a day)
6.) Overweight or Obese – has been found to increase breast cancer risks especially after menopause.
7.) Physical Activity – exercise reduces breast cancer risk. Not known to how big of an extent yet. Studies have found 20%-80% reduced risk with exercise. More studies are currently being run now.
American Cancer Society recommends 45-60 minutes of activity 5 or more days a week. (that’s funny, that’s almost the exactly the same as the boot camp classes we hold!)
Pass this along to any of your friends, daughters, mothers, grandmothers that you want to make sure know this helpful stuff. (especially forward this if you think they would want to take us up on the free training session if they are a breast cancer
Survivors:
Please comment and share your story of triumph to encourage those who might need the encouragement. Family of survivors are very welcome to comment also.
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