Empowering Data
We make some bold posts on socials. Here's where they come from.
We're by no means doctors or scientists, but we don't need to be to read studies and their the results. Every statistic we share on our social posts links to published, peer-reviewed research.
A quick, honest note: nothing here is medical advice, and exercise is not a cure for cancer. What the research shows is that movement can meaningfully improve your strength, your body, and in some studies your survival odds. Always talk to your own medical team about what's right for you.
Strength training
1. Strength + jump training preserved bone and built muscle
A one-year randomised trial of 106 postmenopausal breast cancer survivors. The group doing strength training combined with jumping exercises kept the bone density in their spine, while the group who only stretched lost it. Their muscle gains were greatest in women taking aromatase inhibitors.
Winters-Stone et al., Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, 2011. Read the study →
2. Exercise built muscle and cut body fat in women on aromatase inhibitors
The HOPE study followed 121 breast cancer survivors taking aromatase inhibitors. Over 12 months, those who did aerobic plus strength training gained lean muscle and lost body fat compared to those who didn't. (This programme had no jumping, and bone density didn't change, which is exactly why the research points to impact exercise for bone.)
The HOPE Study (Hormones and Physical Exercise), 2017. Read the study →
3. A 2025 review of many studies: reliable for muscle, conditional for bone
A systematic review and meta-analysis pooling multiple studies found that exercise reliably builds muscle and reduces body fat in postmenopausal women with breast cancer. Its effect on bone is smaller and depends on the right type of training, like the impact exercise above.
Frontiers in Oncology, 2025. Read the study →
Cardio and survival
4. Regular activity after diagnosis is linked to lower breast cancer mortality
A large systematic review and meta-analysis pooled data from many studies of cancer survivors. For breast cancer, being physically active after diagnosis was linked to around 31% lower risk of dying from the disease (pooled hazard ratio 0.69). This is a link found in observational research, not proof that exercise cures cancer, but it is strong and consistent.
Friedenreich et al., JNCI Cancer Spectrum, 2020. Read the study →
This page grows as we do. Every time we share a new stat, its source lands here.