Weight-Lifting
As if having had breast cancer weren't enough, many women who get through treatments are left with a painful condition known as lymphedema, the result of the removal of lymph nodes under the arms. Women with lymphedema experience swelling in their hands and arms and are typically told to limit the amount they lift to 10 to 15 lb. But a new study at the University of Pennsylvania recommends just the opposite. Investigators recruited a group of 141 women with stable lymphedema and had roughly half of them participate in a regimen of biweekly, 90-min. sessions of weight-lifting training. The rest of the women did not lift weights. At the end of a year, the women who worked out were stronger than the nonlifters — some could bench-press 85 lb. — and just 14% of them reported flare-ups of their lymphedema symptoms, compared with 29% of the control group. Not only could training restore function, it could also save money: an eight-day course of therapy for lymphedema symptoms can cost $2,000. But be careful. Weight-lifting training should begin gradually, and it's best done in a class setting at a place like a gym or YMCA.