Inform your physician about starting your plan to begin exercising or consult with a trained Cancer Exercise Specialist.  Choose an activity that you enjoy and can perform safely such as walking with a friend, bicycling, or a group aerobics class.  Begin and end your exercise session with a five to 10 minute warm up and cool down followed by stretching all major muscle groups worked.  Aim for 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity on five days each week.  If 30 minutes is too much at one time you can break the session up into increments of at least 10 minutes.  An example of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise is brisk walking. You should not feel out of breath, and should be able to carry on a conversation while you exercise. On a rating scale of six to 20, with six being very, very light and 20 being very, very hard, you might describe your exercise as being fairly light at 11 to somewhat hard at 13. Your exercise should not be hard unless you are accustomed to the activity.  Listen to your body; exercise has been determined safe and effective for cancer survivors, but if you experience any of the following symptoms consult with your primary care physician:

•  Fever
• Extreme or unusual tiredness or unusual muscular weakness
• Irregular heartbeat, palpitations, or chest pain
• Leg pain or cramps, unusual joint pain, unusual bruising or nosebleeds
• Sudden onset of nausea during exercise
• Rapid weight loss, severe diarrhea or vomiting
• Disorientation, confusion, dizziness, light-headedness, blurred vision, or fainting
• Pallor or gray-colored appearance
• Night pain, or pain not associated with an injury