Active Treatment Package

Exercise During Cancer Treatment: Movement That Supports Recovery

When you're in the middle of chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or recovering from surgery, the idea of "exercise" can feel like an impossible ask. Fatigue is real. So are the side effects, the appointments, the days when getting dressed is enough.

But the evidence on this is now overwhelming: appropriate, well-calibrated exercise during cancer treatment is one of the most effective things you can do to support your body through it.

This programme is built for that reality — not a gym-floor approach retrofitted for cancer patients, but a clinically informed movement programme designed around the actual demands of active treatment.

The evidence for exercising during cancer treatment

For decades, the standard medical advice was to rest during cancer treatment. That advice has now been formally reversed. Major bodies including the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), Macmillan Cancer Support, the World Health Organization, and the Clinical Oncology Society of Australia now recommend that exercise should be prescribed as part of standard cancer care — for almost all patients, during almost all phases of treatment.

The 2019 ACSM Roundtable on Exercise and Cancer Prevention and Control confirmed strong evidence that exercise during treatment can:

• Reduce cancer-related fatigue (one of the most prevalent and disabling side effects)

• Maintain lean muscle mass during catabolic treatment phases

• Improve treatment tolerance and adherence to scheduled cycles

• Support better physical function during and after treatment

• Reduce anxiety and depressive symptoms

• Improve sleep quality

• Support cardiovascular health, particularly important during cardiotoxic treatments

• Maintain bone density during hormone therapies

The shift in clinical guidance is significant: "exercise is medicine" is no longer a slogan in oncology. It's a recommendation.

How the programme works

Movement during treatment is not about pushing through. It's about meeting your body where it is on any given day, and applying the right dose of the right kind of exercise to support — rather than deplete — your reserves.

Your programme is built around four principles:

• Dose, not just exercise. The right amount of work, calibrated to your current capacity, on any given day. This is where most generic fitness advice falls short during treatment.

• Energy management, not energy expenditure. Sessions are designed to leave you with more capacity for the rest of your life, not less.

• Aerobic and resistance components. Both matter. The ACSM guidelines specifically recommend a combination, with resistance training increasingly emphasised for its role in preserving muscle and bone.

• Adaptation around treatment cycles. Your programme flexes around chemotherapy cycles, scan dates, surgical recovery windows, and the days when your body needs less rather than more.

What's included:

• 6 or 10 one-hour sessions with your coach over an agreed timeframe

• A tailored weekly home programme calibrated to your treatment schedule and energy

• Adherence tracking designed for fluctuating capacity, not all-or-nothing consistency

• Mid-point review to reassess and adjust as treatment progresses

• Ongoing email support throughout your programme

Working with your medical team

Your coach is a Level 4 Cancer Rehabilitation Specialist with over 20 years of clinical experience — the highest UK qualification for working with people affected by cancer. Programmes are delivered in line with current exercise oncology guidelines and adapted around your specific diagnosis, treatment plan, and clinical context. Medical clearance from your consultant or GP is required before starting, and we'll communicate with your clinical team where appropriate.

Sessions can be delivered in person or remotely, depending on your immune status, energy, and location.

Getting started

Whether you've just started treatment, are mid-cycle, or are recovering from surgery, it's rarely too late — or too early — to start moving in a way that supports you. Get in touch to arrange an initial assessment.