The Course
Hello! If you've been through, or are in the middle of, breast cancer treatment and are looking to reclaim your strength, this course is for you. This 12 week programme - or longer if you need it - is designed specifically for women with breast cancer and focusses on building strength that can be lost as a result of surgery, radiotherapy and chemo. Proven to help overcome cancer-related fatigue, weight training can also help protect our bones during and after treatment. This course is safe for anyone experiencing lymphoedema (or at risk of it) and as a cancer exercise specialist, and someone with lymphoedema myself, I'm here to guide you every step of the way.
The Big Strong Lasses started as one zoom -based class and has grown into a lovely community of strong, resilient women. We all started here, with the beginners routine for weight training. We know we're stronger together. You'll be joining a community of incredible women who are all about lifting each other up—both figuratively and, well, with some weights too!
What's all the fuss about lifting, you ask? It's simple, really. Not only does building muscle help you regain what cancer treatment might have taken, but it also boosts your energy levels, mood, and confidence. This programme has its roots in real-world application, ensuring you can tackle everyday tasks with ease. Imagine carrying groceries or climbing stairs without that nagging worry about your strength.
And here's the thing: research shows that strength training can help reduce the risk of cancer recurrence, so you're not just getting stronger, you're protecting your future health.
As part of your cancer recovery, become a Big Strong Lass!
What you will learn
I designed this course because I wanted to create a way for women to confidently re-build their strength, but on their own terms. A course that would fit in with anyone's schedule, lifestyle and time zone but that would also be compatible for all, regardless of cancer stage, what kind of surgery and drugs they'd had, and no matter where they were within their cancer treatment. There are Big Strong Lasses on chemo with stage 4 cancers and there are some whose treatment was over several years ago. We're not all in the same boat, but we're navigating the same choppy sea.
The course is a progressive programme of weight training workouts with exercises selected specifically to target areas that may have been affected by surgery or radiotherapy. The routines should have a positive impact on your daily life too. What I hope you will learn from this course is how to 'do' weight training, and how to have a stronger body for the rest of your life.
You can navigate this course at your own pace. Think of it as your personal toolkit, designed to help you build both physical and mental resilience.
The Big Strong Lasses classes have described as 'life-lifting' and I hope this course will have a similar impact for you.
Your instructor
I'm Carolyn Garritt, a personal trainer and cancer exercise specialist. I've worked with hundreds of people who've had a cancer diagnosis, over a period of more than ten years. Midway through this career, and at the start of the coronavirus lockdown, I was diagnosed with breast cancer myself.
My job is incredibly rewarding, principally because exercise works. Time and time again I witness people feeling better, because they're fitter and stronger. My experience has shown me the remarkable resilience of the human spirit and the profound impact of strength training on physical and emotional well-being post-diagnosis.
My passion for the Big Strong Lasses doesn't only stem from my professional experience. These are the exercises that I did when I was recovering from my mastectomy. This course is personal, and it's my way of extending support and know-how to those in similar situations. We're stronger together.