You and Betty and the Nancy's and Bill's and Joes and Jane's will find in the study of science

a richer, more rewarding life.

Welcome to Inquiring Minds. I'm Indravis Gontas.

This is a podcast that explores the space where science and society collide.

We want to find out what's true, what's left to discover, and why it matters.

A few times on this show, we've talked about cancer. In episode 136, we interviewed Siddhartha Mukherjee about the history of cancer. Then in

2019, I talked to Azra Raza and explored her views about how we're studying cancer in the wrong way.

Now, 18 months or so, into a pandemic, I'm a bit tired of sitting on my hands, and I feel the urge to do something.

That's why I was compelled to interview Dr. Catherine Schmitz. She's a past president of the

American College of Sports Medicine and the director of the oncology, nutrition, and exercise group

at the Penn State Cancer Institute. And she has just written a book that essentially is a guide

to how to strategically use exercise and strength training to help people fight cancer and recover

from it. And normally, I'm not one for self-help books, nor am I one to follow the kinds of

guidance that I see in a book written like this.

But the thing that I found really compelling is that she backs it up with a lot of science.

She's got some 280 publications to her name, and she's pioneered a lot of the really big studies,

really well-run, randomized clinical trials, to evaluate the effectiveness

of exercise in people with cancer. So if I'm going to listen to anyone, it's going to be her.

Dr. Catherine Schmitz, welcome to inquiring minds. Thank you so much for having me. Delighted to be with you.

We on this show talk a lot about what are some of the ways in which exercise can be helpful to us.

You know, we've talked about exercise and memory and the brain.

And, you know, one of the things that I really thought was interesting about your book and your approach is that it kind of,

...