Men’s Cancer Health Awareness Month: Cancer & Exercise

September is Men’s Cancer Health Awareness Month, and that has us perusing The Canadian Cancer Society’s website to learn more about cancer and exercise.  The site is full of helpful resources, and we’ve included some links at the end of this post that we think our readers could benefit from reading. In the meantime, here is our summary of what we learned from The Canadian Cancer Society on exercise and cancer.

First of all, staying physically active is a good place to start in an effort to keep cancer at bay. Being active (and eating well) also means working towards or maintaining a healthy body weight, which can also lower your cancer risk; in fact, being overweight puts you at a greater risk of cancer. Unfortunately, even the healthiest people have been confronted with the disease, but a healthy lifestyle is an important first step to reducing your risk.

If you have been diagnosed with cancer, staying active is one of the best things you can do for both your physical and emotional well-being. The Canadian Cancer Society states, “being active can reduce stress or anxiety, improve your mood and self-esteem, boost your energy, stimulate your appetite, help you sleep and help you regain your strength during recovery.” Basically, there’s no shortage of benefits to being active! Staying active also means keeping at a healthy weight, which is crucial as your risk of cancer returning can be increased by weight gain throughout (and even following) the treatment process. You will be able to work with your doctor on finding the best exercises for you based on how you are feeling. Consulting with your doctor is necessary before beginning any exercise routine, as it will allow you to determine what kind of exercise fits best with your body’s needs and also what is safest for you. Your doctor may also tell you to avoid exercise as a safety concern; for example, this may be the case with those who are anemic.

That’s our roundup of helpful tips we found on exercise and cancer thanks to The Canadian Cancer Society. September is Men’s Cancer Health Awareness Month, but for many Canadians, September also means one more thing: The Terry Fox Run, which benefits cancer research. This year’s run will take place on September 15^th, and we would love to hear from you if you plan to participate. Also, we hope you will participate in the discussion on men’s cancer that we are having on our Facebook page. We love to hear from the Urban Poling community!

If you want to read more about exercise and cancer from The Canadian Cancer Society, this blog draws from the “Nutrition & Fitness” page and the “Physical activity during cancer treatment” page. This page on physical activity and prevention is also

helpful. Feel free to share any interesting tips or facts you come across with us and our Facebook followers on our Facebook page!