Last year, Courneya published a review of 28 studies that examined how exercise affects cancer patients. Courneya's review, published in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine, volume 21, number 2, uncovered an array of benefits linked to exercise, including improved sleep, increased strength, and less depression, anxiety, nausea, and fatigue. No one knows whether physical activity might stave off recurrences. Main and the people who've gone through the Well-Fit program would agree. It's a downward spiral.
People feel tired, so they stop exercising and become weaker.
When we get people on a weight-training program to build lean muscle tissue we see a huge improvement. A 1998 study, published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning, volume 12, number 1, tracked 20 Well-Fit participants who had a variety of cancers. And a 1998 study published in Oncology Nursing Forum, volume 25, number 1, showed that exercise significantly eased anxiety and depression in breast cancer survivors. Study author Michelle Segar, president of the National Center for Women and Wellness in Ann Arbor, Mich., says that the women who exercised handled stress better and felt more in control of their lives than those who didn't. We're not saying that if you run marathons, your cancer will go away.