The strength-training class doesn't look that different from any other -- men and women are lying on mats, stretching hamstrings before beginning work with elastic bands, stability balls and dumbbells. Then you notice a few uncommon things.
One woman has doffed her long, blond wig to reveal a low pile of fuzz on her head. The instructor mentions that a particular upper body exercise is especially good for people with brain tumors. And some participants are out of breath after a few ab crunches.
The people in this bare room in a Santa Monica office building are undergoing cancer treatment or recovering from it. Despite fatigue, neuropathy, surgical scars and nausea, they have decided to push their bodies toward physical fitness, whether they feel ready or not. Over the next hour, they follow Wellness Community instructor Kate Schmidt through stretching, balance and strength-training, some modifying the drills to accommodate low lung capacity, stiffness from surgery or weak muscles.
For cancer-traumatized bodies, the experience can be challenging -- but it is becoming increasingly common. As studies mount up showing the benefits of regular, moderate physical activity before, during and after treatment, cancer rehabilitation facilities, wellness centers and YMCAs are offering exercise programs to help people through the disease.
For those weathering, or about to weather, surgery, chemotherapy, radiation or medication regimens, cardiovascular and strength training can help counter side effects such as extreme fatigue and muscle wasting.
For those recovering from treatment or who are in remission, exercise can bolster healing, propelling them back into normal life faster.
"This is a population that is not unlike people who have cardiac disease -- they have a damaged body system that can be helped by exercise," says Kathryn Schmitz, assistant professor of epidemiology at the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Pennsylvania.
That's not to say that launching an exercise routine under such circumstances is easy.
To begin with, Schmitz says, people may feel a bit betrayed by their bodies: "Like, you're not sure if you're best friends with your body right now."
Then there are the effects of treatment. Surgery can cause muscle imbalances, weakness, pain and scarring. Steroid drugs can cause muscle breakdown; interferon often leads to intense fatigue; and some medications, such as sunitinib (used to treat some kidney and gastrointestinal cancers) and the breast cancer drug trastuzumab, may cause heart damage.
