12-Week Resistance Training with Breast Cancer Patients during Chemotherapy: Effects on Cognitive Abilities

(CG). Patients in the IG participated in a 60-min session of resistance training twice a week for 12 weeks, performing 3 sets of 8–12 repetitions of 10 different exercises at 55–75% of their hypothetical 1-repetition maximum. Exercise sessions were supervised and performed at a healthorientated fitness studio. Cognitive functions were assessed by 4 neuropsychological tests. The MEMO memory test [6] was applied to test verbal memory, the Wilde intelligence subtest (WIT) [7] to determine the working memory, and the d2 test of attention, consisting of 2 different tests, to provide information about focused attention and concentration abilities [8]. Assessments were conducted at the beginning (pre) and at the end (post) of the 12-week physical intervention in the IG, whereas the CG was only tested at the end of the trial. The pre-test was conducted during chemotherapy and the post-test 1–2 weeks after its termination. Statistical analyses consisted of a paired/dependent t-test (type 1) to assess intergroup changes in the IG and an independent t-test (type 2, 2 samples, same variance) to identify differences between the IG and the CG at the end of the trial.