Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Nordic Walking

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and it just so happens that recently I have had two new clients join my group who are recovering from breast cancer. I was aware that Nordic Walking had been shown to be beneficial to those recovering from this disease but had not actually done any reading around the subject.

I came across this blog post published by British Nordic Walking on 20 August 2019:

“A study, published in the European Journal of Cancer Care earlier in August 2019, analysed the results of nine past studies about the benefits of Nordic Walking for women recovering from breast cancer treatment.

Across the studies, most participants Nordic Walked for between 30 and 80 minutes, one to five days a week.

The study found that Nordic Walking is beneficial for improving common breast cancer symptoms including upper body and core strength, lymphedema, physical fitness and the perception of swelling and pain. It also has positive effects on managing pain and depression associated with breast cancer.

There were no adverse effects found and the study noted that this included no reported falling, an interesting – and useful – point since in women with breast cancer one of the most common adverse effects associated with neurotoxic chemotherapy drugs is an increased risk of falling and fall‐related injuries.

Nordic Walking was found to counteract side effects related to breast cancer treatment such as postural problems, and shoulder and arm mobility more effectively than regular walking.

Nordic Walking was readily adopted even by typically sedentary participants as it is sociable, does not require expensive equipment and can be easily learned.

The study also notes that “(Many) health professionals and therapists do not realise that there are contraindicated exercises during breast cancer rehabilitation and that alternatives such as Nordic walking can be very effective.”

The impact of Nordic Walking on the fitness was shown to be of a greater magnitude when compared with that of other physical therapy rehabilitation strategies, such as water‐based or general fitness exercises. Given that exercise is considered to be an important tool in the rehabilitation for women with breast cancer, it is important that health professionals have a good understanding of the impact that a safe, easy-to-adopt form of exercise can have.”

More information can be found in these articles:

Nordic walking for women with breast cancer: A systematic review