After getting in contact with new clients—either through social media or referrals from nurses or social workers—Spencer will talk with the warrior to learn about  their medical history, diagnosis, treatment plan and fitness goals. Spencer has been conducting initial consultations virtually since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. This consultation serves to assess the warrior’s baselines and functional status (such as posture or strength). Spencer will also examine the warrior’s treatment plan and use her oncology nursing background to better accommodate and personalize the sessions.

“It’s really important taking cancer treatment into the planning process. Everyone is different,” says Spencer. “It’s taking that knowledge from what their treatments are, what side effects they may have and then connecting it with what muscle imbalances and functional deviations you saw when they were doing certain movements and putting that all together into what workouts they should be doing.”

Spencer stresses that for most warriors, exercising isn’t going to be about running a marathon or transforming into a bodybuilder. She uses exercise as a tool to improve a warrior’s everyday physical functioning. In this sense, the exercise has not only physical benefits but emotional and cognitive benefits, too.

As Fight the Fatigue continues to grow, Spencer hopes to recruit more oncology nurses to become certified and work with clients, as well as educate both the healthcare professionals and the cancer community about the many benefits of supervised fitness for fatigue.

“There’s this loss of control and independence that happens with [cancer],” says Spencer. “And exercise is such a powerful tool to empower you, to get that control back and feel like, ‘OK, yes, I have cancer, but my body can still function and move. And I can still take care of it and improve my outcomes in the long run.’”


To learn more about Jenny Spencer and Fight the Fatigue, visit fight-the-fatigue.com or @fightthefatiguefitness on Instagram. You can also contact Spencer at jenny@fight-the-fatigue.com.