Livestrong at Plum YMCA helps survivors rebuild and recover
Roberta Burkhart / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
For the past few months while in the midst of her second battle with cancer, Sandra Capp-Mihalek, of Plum, found herself struggling with even simple movements like standing up and sitting down.
Now five weeks into a program at her YMCA, Capp-Mihalek, 78, is doing hamstring curls, leg presses, yoga, Zumba and more.
With every stomach injection to stall her bone cancer and each new round of oral chemotherapy, Capp-Mihalek said her energy drained away — often leaving her exhausted by midday.
“But now, I’m strengthening my core muscles. I’m energizing myself,” she said, smiling.
When the final round of chemotherapy or radiation ends — or even while it’s still underway — cancer survivors often face new hurdles: how to regain strength, stamina and confidence in their own bodies.
That’s where programs like Livestrong at the YMCA come in, offering guided exercise classes specifically designed for people who are living with, through or beyond cancer. Started in 2007 as an initiative of the Austin, Texas-based Livestrong Foundation, this is the third time that the 12-week program has been offered at the Sampson Family YMCA in Plum.
Kathryn Schmitz, an exercise oncologist at UPMC and one of the original architects of the Livestrong at the YMCA program, said she has seen firsthand how tailored exercise can make a difference.
And exercise for cancer survivors, said Schmitz, who also serves as the interim director of the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center and is past president of the American College of Sports Medicine, is very different from general fitness classes.
“There are some special things that have to be acknowledged in dealing with the population of cancer patients and survivors,” she said. “One of the things that has to happen is triage. We need to understand where someone is” physically before they start a fitness program.
For Capp-Mihalek, who decades ago battled breast cancer that spread to her lymph nodes and now faces Stage 4 bone cancer, some exercises have required modifications. But, by taking it slowly and adding a bit more every week, she said she’s steadily regaining strength lost during her cancer treatment — she said she feels stronger than she has in years.
Schmitz pointed to two ends of a spectrum: an 85-year-old survivor struggling with multiple chronic conditions, who may first need physical therapy before joining Livestrong, versus a younger, more active patient who is ready to dive into a group class.
“Cancer feels like it takes something away from you,” Schmitz said. “What’s so fantastic is that exercise feels like you’re getting something back.”
Built for survivors
Cancer survivors often face fatigue, neuropathy and even heart complications as lingering side effects of treatment.
“Cancer-related fatigue is different than how you and I feel at the end of a busy day,” Schmitz said. “This is even after a good night’s rest, feeling just ‘done in.’ Exercise is one of the number one treatments for cancer-related fatigue.”
She added that programs like Livestrong are carefully designed with safety in mind — from watching for balance issues linked to neuropathy to recognizing unexpected heart issues in younger survivors.
Following treatment, cancer survivors shouldn’t just sign up for just any program, those “designed for the general public, like a CrossFit gym or Orange Theory,” Schmitz said. “The idea behind most exercise oncology programs, including Livestrong, is slow progression. We know that if we progress the exercise too quickly, we run the risk of injury or real harm.”
At the Sampson Y, Jennifer Werley, healthy living director and a Livestrong trainer, said the program weaves in careful assessments and data collection to track progress and tailor workouts.
Class sizes are capped at 12, and instructors are trained to understand the special considerations that survivors may face. Surgery, medication side effects and physical limitations are all factored into the twice-weekly, 90-minute sessions.
As of December 2023, the program is being offered at nearly 800 YMCA sites across 40 states, according to a program factsheet. Nearly 77,000 survivors have been served by the program, according to the program page on the YMCA website.
In the Pittsburgh area, Livestrong classes are running now at Baierl Family YMCA in Sewickley, Homewood-Brushton YMCA in Homewood and at the Plum location. In the spring, the Thelma Lovette and Spencer Family YMCAs, in the Hill District and Bethel Park, respectively, plan to offer it, too.
More than simple exercise
The program doesn’t just restore physical health: It also rebuilds trust in oneself, Schmitz said. Many cancer survivors are left feeling like their body betrayed them.
“One of the great things about exercise after a diagnosis and after treatment is done is that you feel like you can kind of make friends with your body again. Certainly trust your body again,” Schmitz said. “And doing so in a setting with a bunch of other people who’ve been through a similar journey can be really healing.”
Kristie Keller, 45, of Plum, said she has found extra motivation and a certain level of comfort working out alongside fellow survivors.
People in Keller’s life and her family sympathized with what she went through after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2020. But her fellow Livestrong classmates “really understand.”
With two active sons — ages 9 and 16 — at home, Keller said wanted to rebuild the strength and energy needed to keep up with them.
“I wanted to get strong again,” she said. “My muscles and bones were so weak.”
The steroids she took during chemotherapy also caused her to put on a couple unwanted pounds: “People think you lose weight when you do chemo, but …” she said, trailing off.
Keller said her cancer treatment left her feeling a bit helpless, with motivation to work out in short supply.
Unable to make the last session of Livestrong held at the Y, when this cohort fit into her schedule, she was really excited to get started so she would finally be “able to walk down the steps without feeling like I’m 90 years old. I want to get my body strong again.”
While Schmitz champions the YMCA program, she also recognizes not everyone can make the scheduled classes. For those who can’t, she recommends visiting movingthroughcancer.org, which connects survivors with online and in-person programs.
And for those who are hesitant to start? Her advice is simple.
“Get up off the couch and just walk for five minutes. I will guarantee that you will feel better just doing even that much. And then tomorrow, do it again. And then the next day, do it again. By the end of the week, you will have done 35 minutes of exercise.”