Figure 1:
Erin Juliano (left) and her friend after a race her workout support group attended¹. This photo was obtained from the UNC Health Care Newsroom¹.

Breast Cancer patients listen up! It is time to look past your diagnosis and talk to your doctor about increasing physical activity. Physical activity is proven to increase breast cancer patient’s survival rates, which can help you move one step closer to remission².

Erin Juliano, shown in figure 1 above, is a North Carolina resident and breast cancer survivor, maintained her physical activity during her treatment and is now in remission¹. After her diagnosis, Juliano heeded her doctor’s recommendations to improve physical activity¹. She was recommended medium intensity activities for about an hour and a half each week to aid in increasing her chances of survival¹. Some activities that fulfill such requirements are shown below in figure 2⁴.

Figure 2: This figure was made and obtained from the World Health Organization⁴. These workouts are recommended workouts by the World Health Organization to achieve a standard moderate to high intensity workout⁴.

Staying active during treatment can be hard, but by being open with your doctor on what you can do during or between treatment, you can work to increase your chances of survival. Juliano, during her treatment, did indeed struggle to maintain the same physical capacity prior to her diagnosis, but she never lost hope¹. Knowing the importance expressed by her doctor’s emphasis to maintain her physical activity helped her push through the tiredness her body felt from treatment¹. Juliano found that while being talking with her doctors and working to upkeep their requests for physical activity allowed her to feel like she was more than just a breast cancer patient and she felt more like herself¹. In remission now, Juliano maintains her health through the Get Real and Heel, a free exercise program for patients in remission, where she is able to keep active and thrive again in her everyday life¹.

Be sure to ask your doctor what is right for you and to be open with any concerns or troubles you may be having.

Erin Juliano survived breast cancer and attributes part of her survival to her participation in physical activity during treatment¹. Juliano was physically active prior to her diagnosis, and so her workouts during treatment involved similar aspects routines to those of her pre-diagnosis lifestyle with added recommendations from her doctors¹. When discouraged, Juliano gathered encouragement from those around her to improve her physical motivation¹.

Physical activity has been found to increase breast cancer patient’s survival chances². To become more physically active or find motivation to participate in physical activity try to start somewhere you feel comfortable. Phone apps can encourage and provide physical activity regimens and have been shown to further increase survival rates among breast cancer patients³. Through increasing physical activity and maintaining physical activity breast cancer patients can optimize their chances for increasing survival². If you do feel more comfortable with discussing your workout plan with a physical therapist or doctor please feel freely to do so, but below in Figure 3 there are some listed workout apps to that can help manage physical activity. However, consult a doctor before performing intensive workouts. These apps demonstrate that you do not need a trainer to figure out what to do to workout, rather all you need is an app on your phone⁵.

Application	Purpose
Motify	All in one cardio, yoga, platies, nutrition, and strength app
Alo Moves	Yoga app that includes HIIT workouts
Freeletics	Body weight workouts involving HIIT
SworkIt	Targeted workouts to build strength
All/Out Studio	Workout catalog for HIIT, strength building, and cardio
Home Workouts – No equipment	Body part specific HIIT to get you to break a sweat involving no equipment
FitOn	Mixed intensity and Cardio personalized fitness plan and tracker
Nike+ Training Club	HIIT workouts along with a planner to track your activity
Ladder	Mobile personal trainer

Figure 3: This table was made by the author of this blog but all information was obtained from Women’s Health Magazine⁵. Each of these apps have been recommended by a trainer who feels these app can best motivate and push their clients⁵. All apps can be found on the app store for apple⁵.

Breast Cancer is a scary thing but remember you are not alone. Erin Juliano, a breast cancer patient now in remission, found her niche with the Get Real and Heel, a free exercise and support group in North Carolina¹. Above in figure 4 is a photo of members from the Get Real and Heel support group working out⁸. Through this support group she has been able to maintain a positive attitude and even during her treatment and remission she has found the group to still be there for her and push to her to stay active¹. Juliano finds strength during her battle and now in remission and strives to give the same support to others¹. Juliano’s support group was recommended by her physician¹. There are many different kinds of support groups in the state of North Carolina and some can be either recommended by asking your doctor, or looking for them on your own.

Support groups can help motivate you to keep up with physical activity, be a safe place to talk with others, and provide emotional support⁶. Some breast cancer patients may seek less of an individual setting instead of a group setting. The preference for any type of support is all up to you, but they are there to help you through the troubling path breast cancer presents.

As a breast cancer patient, you can find somewhere that you feel supported and understood but you need to know where to look. The Susan G. Komen foundation is a breast cancer foundation that provides information and assistance to breast cancer patients and a way to search for support groups in North Carolina⁶. American Cancer Society has an online resource that provides a way to input your area code or city and look for support groups near you⁶. Other foundations such as the Imerman Angles, CaringBridge, Cancer Support Community, and many more resources can be found on the Susan G. Komen website linked in the caption of figure 5 below⁶.

Figure 5: Depicted is an event hosted by and obtained from the Susan G. Komen organization in North Carolina to help fundraise money to support underserved breast cancer patients⁶. Support groups around the state attended this event⁶. Below is the link to get to the Susan G. Komen listed support groups⁶: https://ww5.komen.org/BreastCancer/WhatisSocialSupport.html

1. Newsroom. 2019. Cancer patients, doctors find healing, health in exercise – News Room – UNC Health Care.

http://news.unchealthcare.org/news/2019/may/cancer-patients-doctors-find-healing-health-in-exercise

2. Hair BY, Hayes S, Tse C-K, Bell MB, Olshan AF. 2014. Racial differences in physical activity among breast cancer survivors: Implications for breast cancer care. Cancer. 120(14):2174–2182. doi:10.1002/cncr.28630

https://acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/cncr.28630

3. Park, SW., Lee, I., Kim, J.I. et al. 2019. Support Care Cancer 27: 1747.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-018-4427-3

4. 2014. What is Moderate-intensity and Vigorous-intensity Physical Activity? World Health Organization.

https://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/physical_activity_intensity/en/

5. Santilli M. 2020.These Workout Apps Will Ensure You Never Get Bored At The Gym Again. Women’s Health.

https://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/g21971119/best-workout-apps-for-women/?slide=6

6. 2019. Getting Social Support for Breast Cancer. Susan G. Komen®. [accessed 2020 Feb 21].

https://ww5.komen.org/BreastCancer/WhatisSocialSupport.html

7. GSU News. 2019. Study confirms disparities in triple-negative breast cancer diagnoses. EurekAlert!

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-07/gsu-scd071019.php

8. Battaglini C. 2019. getrealandheel.unc.edu. [accessed 2020 Feb 21].

https://getrealandheel.unc.edu/