Introduction to Strength Training

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What is strength training?

• Strength training (also known as resistance training) is a type of exercise that causes your muscles to contract against an outside resistance.
• The outside resistance can be from your body weight, weight machines, medicine balls, resistance bands or dumbbells.

Benefits of strength training

• Increased muscle mass: Helps to maintain muscle strength and function and improve general physical function
• Stronger bones: Helps reduce the risk of bone fractures
• Joint flexibility: Can reduce symptoms of stiffness and arthritis
• Enhances overall quality of life by giving you the ability to do more
• Weight control: Can help to manage your weight
• Helps to control your blood sugar
• Can help prevent reoccurrence or secondary cancer
• Improves sleep
• Balance: Can help reduce falls
• Reductions in cancer-related fatigue and anxiety and depression

Things to consider

• Always consult your doctor before starting a strength-training program.
• Never push yourself to the point of pain.
• Always start exercising slowly and cautiously to gauge how much your body can handle.
• Pick exercises that align with your goals – just because everyone is doing them, doesn’t mean you have to.
• Modify exercises to match your physical capability. Many lower- and upper-body exercises can be done from a seated position instead of standing.
• Further, there is no risk with resistance training for women with or at risk for breast-cancer-related lymphedema.

Where do I start?

Find the right time.

• Try to dedicate 30 to 60 minutes a day, two days a week.

Pick the right exercise equipment.

• Choose between free weights, resistance bands, weight machines, water training or body-weight exercises.

Put together a program.

• Select four to six exercises that target different major muscle groups.
• Perform two to three sets of eight to 10 repetitions of each exercise.
• Try to use a resistance that feels like an “8 out of 10” effort, with 10 being the highest effort you can give.

Set a goal.

• To get stronger, try increasing either the weight, number of repetitions, number of sets or number of exercises.
• Increase your workload once you feel comfortable with your current program.

How hard should my workout be?

• A rating of 0 means that you’re not doing any exercise and are resting. A rating of 10 means that your body is working the hardest it can.
• As you begin your strength training, try to exert yourself so that you’re rating your workout between a 3 and 4.
• After you feel you have made some positive progress, try and push yourself so that you’re increasing your difficulty rating to the 4 to 6 range. This is called “moderate intensity.” At this intensity, you should be able to speak in sentences without becoming completely out of breath.
• If at any point you feel any unexpected pain or soreness, decrease the intensity of your exercise session.
• A rating of 9 and 10 is excessive.

Intensity scale at a glance

• 10 – Maximal effort – as hard as you have ever worked
• 9
• 8 – Very hard
• 7 – Moderately hard
• 6
• 5 – Hard
• 4 – Somewhat hard (starting to breathe harder)
• 3 – Moderate
• 2 – Somewhat easy – like walking around your home
• 1 – Very easy
• 0 – At rest

Where can I find more information about aerobic and strength-training exercises?

If you are interested in starting aerobic and/or strength-training exercises, The ONE Group (Oncology – Nutrition – Exercise) provides videos demonstrating proper form for more than 50 exercises.

See the videos here

References

• American Cancer Society
• American College of Sports Medicine Moving Through Cancer initiative
• American Institute for Cancer Research
• National Cancer Institute