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Blog: Exercise and Lung Cancer: Low-Impact Workouts


NikoleV

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Overall health becomes a major priority when undergoing lung cancer treatment, and staying active is one way to include healthy behaviors in your life. Talking with your doctor about exercise and lung cancer is important to remain safe and do activities your body and lungs can handle. If you feel chest or lung pain during any workouts, stop immediately and tell your doctor. 

The purpose of low-impact workouts is to lightly work muscles and keep them strong. It’s a specific exercise plan to limit the amount of stress put on your body. Adding exercise to your lung cancer treatment plan is about maintaining your health so your body continues to have the strength to go through treatment and keep the quality of life important to you. 

Nobody needs to do all the exercises listed below. These ideas are meant to show the range of options available for you and your doctor to talk about for a safe and fun low-impact exercise plan. 

Read more here: https://www.lungevity.org/blogs/exercise-and-lung-cancer-low-impact-workouts

800x250_1-3-22_Exercising with Lung Cancer_1.jpg

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On 1/18/2023 at 1:45 AM, NikoleV said:

Overall health becomes a major priority when undergoing lung cancer treatment, and staying active is one way to include healthy behaviors in your life. Talking with your doctor about exercise and lung cancer is important to remain safe and do activities your body and lungs can handle. If you feel chest or lung pain during any workouts, stop immediately and tell your doctor. 

The purpose of low-impact workouts is to lightly work muscles and keep them strong. It’s a specific exercise plan to limit the amount of stress put on your body. Adding exercise to your lung cancer treatment plan is about maintaining your health so your body continues to have the strength to go through treatment and keep the quality of life important to you. 

Nobody needs to do all the exercises listed below. These ideas are meant to show the range of options available for you and your doctor to talk about for a safe and fun low-impact exercise plan. 

Read more here: https://www.lungevity.org/blogs/exercise-and-lung-cancer-low-impact-workouts

800x250_1-3-22_Exercising with Lung Cancer_1.jpg

Thank you for this post! Interested in riding a bike: can a difficult road affect the condition of the knees? For example, if the road goes up? This is quite difficult to do even for a healthy person. And what kind of bike is the most preferable - gravel or road or even electric bike? Thank you!

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Hi AriHarry,

I'm an avid cyclist and have been for most of my life. 

Hills can definitely impact knees, but how you ride the hills is what makes the difference.

How you pedal can affects which muscles your lower body responds with. A grinding pace-- slow cadence (turning of the pedals) and high resistance (the feeling of load you are pushing against) calls on your leg muscles, especially your quadriceps, to carry most of the burden. Knees don't love that. If you shift into gears that make it easier to pedal, it will lighten the load on your knees, asking more of your cardio system.  

There's a lot of information on the web about how beginners can learn to cycle up hills. First, though, you have to find a bike you like. My biggest recommendation, if your budget allows, is to go to a reputable bicycling store. A good one can listen carefully to what you are looking for, help you find the right size, and get you outfitted with the essentials: A HELMET. E-bikes often are typically sold by specialty stores. 

You may need to invest some time exploring and testing bikes-- a good bike store will let you ride whatever bike you think might interest you. If they don't, that's probably a red flag about their expertise and service.

I just did a quick search and found a couple of resources that might help you. 

How to start cycling-- everything you need to know It talks about everything, even the kinds of bikes there are. 

The 12 Best Beginner Bikes for Adults and How to Find Your Perfect Fit  at the Livestrong site is helpful. Livestrong was started by cancer survivor Lance Armstrong. He's not affiliated with the site any more, but it's a great resource.  

Bicycling Magazine is also good for an overview on bikes

If riding on the road is concerning for you, perhaps a stationary bike would be good? Lots of people like to watch a movie or listen to books as they ride. That involves a different type of research-- bike stores don't carry those.

Just take your time so you get what is right for you.

I wish you a lot of luck. Bicycling brings joy to my life. I hope it will for you, too.

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On 2/22/2023 at 4:10 AM, Karen_L said:

Hi AriHarry,

I'm an avid cyclist and have been for most of my life. 

Hills can definitely impact knees, but how you ride the hills is what makes the difference.

How you pedal can affects which muscles your lower body responds with. A grinding pace-- slow cadence (turning of the pedals) and high resistance (the feeling of load you are pushing against) calls on your leg muscles, especially your quadriceps, to carry most of the burden. Knees don't love that. If you shift into gears that make it easier to pedal, it will lighten the load on your knees, asking more of your cardio system.  

There's a lot of information on the web about how beginners can learn to cycle up hills. First, though, you have to find a bike you like. My biggest recommendation, if your budget allows, is to go to a reputable bicycling store. A good one can listen carefully to what you are looking for, help you find the right size, and get you outfitted with the essentials: A HELMET. E-bikes often are typically sold by specialty stores. 

You may need to invest some time exploring and testing bikes-- a good bike store will let you ride whatever bike you think might interest you. If they don't, that's probably a red flag about their expertise and service.

I just did a quick search and found a couple of resources that might help you. 

How to start cycling-- everything you need to know It talks about everything, even the kinds of bikes there are like https://www.bikethesites.com/gravel-bike-vs-road-bike/

The 12 Best Beginner Bikes for Adults and How to Find Your Perfect Fit  at the Livestrong site is helpful. Livestrong was started by cancer survivor Lance Armstrong. He's not affiliated with the site any more, but it's a great resource.  

Bicycling Magazine is also good for an overview on bikes

If riding on the road is concerning for you, perhaps a stationary bike would be good? Lots of people like to watch a movie or listen to books as they ride. That involves a different type of research-- bike stores don't carry those.

Just take your time so you get what is right for you.

I wish you a lot of luck. Bicycling brings joy to my life. I hope it will for you, too.

Karen_L, I appreciate your detailed reply. So good to know that cycling brings you joy. I will definitely try your tips!

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