Would you like a cancer survivor’s exercise DVD to use at home?

A lot of men and women who have attended CanRehab classes or workshops throughout the past nine years have asked if there is a DVD based on the exercise programme provided that they could use at home.  Anna Campbell of CanRehab has now recorded an Exercise to Music DVD based on the various group exercises that she has found of benefit to cancer patients and survivors.  This DVD will be able to be ordered through the publications section of the Breast Cancer Care website.  The exact web address won’t be known until it’s ready to order and this will hopefully be sometime in early 2010.

 The advantages of using the exercise DVD is that you can improve your cardiovascular fitness, flexibility and muscular strength and endurance at a time convenient for you.  Providing you have approval from GP, the exercise DVD is ideal for anyone

• who may be lacking in confidence to go to the local gym
• who may not live near a leisure centre with appropriate exercise classes,
• who is feeling tired due to cancer treatments
• who has a full life with work, family and other commitments and would like to use a home based DVD to keep active. 

The exercise to music part of the DVD is split into different segments – warm up, pulse raiser, aerobic part, muscular strengthening part and finally flexibility and stretches.  You can do as little or as much of the full programme as you like and there are three women in the DVD undertaking each exercise at different levels of intensity e.g. from sitting to large fast movements!!  So you can suit yourself each time.

The exercise component is only one part of a  DVD which is to improving active living after breast cancer surgery –  the first part  of the DVD is led by physiotherapist Lisa Wright and concentrates on improving the range of movement of the affected arm from immediately post surgery to up to 8 weeks post surgery.  This is followed by the exercise to music part which is led by Anna Campbell.  The DVD is going through its final approval with breast cancer care (http://www.breastcancercare.org.uk) and should be available free of charge on their web site in 2010.