hormonal therapy

Exercise during Hormonal Therapy has very distinct benefits according to the type of hormonal therapy. 

For men receiving treatment for prostate cancer, there is a well documented loss of muscle and bone mass that can be slowed with a combination of aerobic (MOVE) and resistance (LIFT) exercise.  For women receiving hormonal therapy for breast or gynecologic cancers, there are well documented benefits related to the commonly experienced arthralgias, as well as benefits for function, energy, and maintaining muscle and bone mass – again, the best benefits accrue with a combined program of aerobic and resistance exercise.    Hormonal therapy lasts years, so this program may well need to be expanded over time to keep things fresh. 

See the general pages for MOVE and LIFT for guidance on equipment, trainers, videos, and expanding your program.

There are 5 aspects to the Hormone Therapy program. 

Log

Eat

Sleep

Move

Lift

If you want to read some of the science behind exercise during cancer treatment, try these sources:

https://www.exerciseismedicine.org/support_page.php/moving-through-cancer/

scroll to the bottom for the links to 5 papers that we think will convince you of the value of exercise before, during and after cancer treatment.

Also see:

Combined resistance and aerobic exercise program reverses muscle loss in men undergoing androgen suppression therapy for prostate cancer without bone metastases: a randomized controlled trial Galvao et al. 2010.

Randomized exercise trial of aromatase-inhibitor induced arthralgia in breast cancer survivors. Irwin et al. 2015