Increased Metabolism & Lean Body Mass

Having more lean muscle is not only aesthetically pleasing, but it provides a greater purpose. Lean muscle increases your resting metabolism or the calories that you use at rest. This lowers the amount of body fat that is sustained on the body as well. Higher body fat is linked to reoccurrences in breast cancer.

Sarcopenia (normal loss of muscle mass that occurs over time as a natural part of the aging process) is accelerated by chemotherapy. In one year post-chemo, the muscle mass lost is equivalent to what the average woman loses in 10 years. This can be controlled by strength training.

Other important notes about muscle…

• Pound for pound, muscle burns more calories than fat. 1 lb of fat burns 2 calories a day compared to 1 lb of muscle that burns 34 calories a day.
• It takes up less space and has a tighter appearance.
• The muscles main function is to support the skeletal framework. Having more support makes daily tasks easier on your body
• Lean muscle is shown to limit weight gain from chemotherapy.
• Women won’t get “bulky” if they do strength training.

Recent studies have shown maintaining a healthy weight can reduce the risk for recurrence, according to reports in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (vol 20, Issue 15, August 2002).

Posture

When muscles are unused or damaged, they can become tight and inflexible. After breast surgery when the muscles of the chest, back, underarm, stomach etc. have been cut, they need to re-fuse themselves back together. Scar tissue can form and the affected muscles can become weak. Women tend to protect their chest by drawing their shoulders forward. This can contribute to tight pectorals and make the upper back muscles weak This posture can cause a host of problems such as pain the neck, shoulders and back; reduced range of motion and the ability to do normal tasks as well as fatigue from muscular atrophy.   

The right stretches and exercises will help to stretch the front of the chest, strengthen the back and shoulders as well as improve posture. This will in effect reduce the stress placed on the spine and the core of the body.

Digestive System

Another common side effect is constipation. Exercise will help your digestive system to become more regular. Aerobic exercise (exercise that increases your breathing and heart rate) and deep breathing exercises are very beneficial for healthy digestion, because they stimulate the natural contraction of intestinal muscles, helping to move food through your intestines more rhythmically. Stress can cause a similar shift in blood flow away from the gut, as muscles tense and heart rate accelerates, demanding more oxygen delivery to the active muscles.