New Exercise Guidelines for Survivors and New Training Program for Exercise Trainers

June 30, 2010

In a bulletin dated June 29 2010, the National Cancer Institute, highlighted new exercise guidelines developed by the American College of Sports Medicine for patients who are actively in treatment and post treatment for a variety of cancers. These guidelines follow the general exercise recommendations, but the panel of researchers, physicians, and scientists who developed the cancer-specific guidelines "suggested adaptations for exercise in people with different cancer types based on factors such as common adverse effects of treatment...Patients with different cancer types receive different treatments. So the new ACSM guidelines identify considerations that patients/survivors and the fitness professionals working with them should take into account."

This bulletin also announced a new certification jointly accredited by the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Cancer Society for exercise trainers. "A CET is a fitness professional who trains men and women who were recently diagnosed with cancer and have not yet begun treatment, are receiving treatment, have completed treatment or are a survivor experiencing chronic or late effects from disease or treatment; and are apparently healthy or have the presence of known stable cardiovascular disease with low risk for complications with vigorous exercise and do not have any relative or absolute contraindications for exercise testing."

Survivors should seek out trainers with the CET certification, and survivors should certainly urge their local trainers to consider the CET education.