Begin your activity slowly. If you have been very ill or have not been exercising on a regular basis, walking five minutes, turning around and walking back might be a realistic goal. Then try to do it twice a day. Start exercising slowly and build up gradually. If you are able to build up endurance without problems, increase the time you exercise by not more than 10 percent each week. In other words, if you walk for 15 minutes three times a week — a total of 45 minutes — don’t walk more than a total of 50 minutes next week. Remember that there is a fine balance between too much and not enough exercise. If you were active before your diagnosis, you might consider cutting back on your exercise by at least 50 percent until you feel you can add distance and intensity. During weight training, reduce by half the number of sets you complete and limit your effort to about 50 percent of your previous output. Increase or decrease your repetitions and weights, based on how you feel.

Women who exercise beyond the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) guidelines do not rank higher on measures of cardiovascular fitness or fat loss than women who follow their guidelines. More is not necessarily better. ACSM recommends 3 to 5 days a week for 20 to 60 minutes of continuous or intermittent aerobic activity.

While it is important to exercise regularly, don’t feel you can’t take a day or two off. Your body needs time to adjust to the physiological changes occurring in your body. Muscle takes time to repair and rebuild. Rest also aids in the removal of metabolic waste products, such as lactic acid, the chemical responsible for muscle soreness and fatigue. You need rest to perform your best.

If you work too hard and get your heart rate up too high, you will fatigue rapidly and be unable to keep up your activity. On days when you are tired or stressed, you may notice that your resting heart rate is higher than usual. This is a normal response and is your body’s signal to proceed more slowly.

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