How to Exercise With Lung Cancer

The right approach will look different for everyone, depending on your symptoms, treatment, and overall health. The goal is not to push through exhaustion or compete with your precancer fitness level, but to find safe, manageable ways to keep moving. With guidance from your healthcare team, physical activity can be gradually adapted to your abilities and adjusted as your needs change.

Why Exercise Matters When You Have Lung Cancer

Helps Manage Treatment Side Effects

Patients often expect exercise to make them more exhausted, Scott says. “But in reality, an individualized exercise program tends to improve energy levels over time because it helps preserve muscle mass, cardiovascular fitness, and physical function.”

Improves Lung Function

Thanks to the improvements in fitness, many patients notice that they can perform activities such as climbing stairs, shopping, or walking longer distances with less breathlessness after participating in an exercise program, Scott says.

“Pulmonary rehabilitation and supervised exercise programs can be particularly helpful for individuals with significant respiratory symptoms,” she notes.

Boosts Mood

“Physical activity stimulates the release of neurotransmitters and other biological factors associated with improved emotional well-being,” Scott says.

Enhances Quality of Life

“A cancer diagnosis often leaves people feeling that their lives are being dictated by appointments, scans, and treatments,” Scott says. “Exercise gives patients an opportunity to focus on something they can actively do for themselves during a time when many aspects of their illness may feel outside of their control.”

Safe Types of Exercise for Lung Cancer

• Walking
• Jogging
• Cycling
• Swimming
• Resistance training with body weight, resistance bands, or free weights
• Yoga
• Stretching
• Tai chi
• Qigong

“The key message is that exercise should be individualized,” Scott says. “Some patients may be able to walk, cycle, or strength train, while others may need to start with short bouts of gentle activity and gradually progress over time.”

Prasad notes that individual symptoms and the sites of the cancer can influence which exercises are safe and appropriate. “Dyspnea [shortness of breath] can often dictate the intensity of the exercise,” she says. “Patients with bone metastases (cancer that spreads to the bones) need to be careful about high-impact exercises for fragile bones and also avoid falling. And any patient with severe anemia should avoid intense exercise.”

How to Get Started Safely

“Walking is often the easiest place to start because it requires no special equipment and can be adapted to a person’s current fitness level and symptoms,” Scott says.

She notes that even small amounts of regular movement can make a meaningful difference. “My advice is to start where you are, not where you think you should be,” Scott says. “You don’t need to become an athlete or run to experience benefits.”

She offers some practical tips to get started with exercise:

• Begin slowly and progress gradually. Even 5 to 10 minutes of activity is a good starting point.
• Include both aerobic activity and strength exercises, if possible.
• Break exercise into multiple short sessions throughout the day.
• Listen to your body and adjust your activity based on your symptoms and treatment schedules.

It’s important to always talk to your oncology team before starting a new exercise routine, Scott advises, especially if you are newly diagnosed, receiving active treatment, recovering from surgery, using supplemental oxygen, or experiencing significant symptoms. “This conversation can help identify any precautions and determine whether referral to physical therapy, pulmonary rehabilitation, cardiac rehabilitation, or an exercise oncology program would be beneficial,” she says.

When to Pause and Call Your Doctor

• Shortness of breath
• Unusual fatigue that doesn’t improve with rest
• Dizziness or lightheadedness
• New or worsening pain or swelling
• Fever

“Call 911 or seek immediate emergency care if you develop severe or sudden shortness of breath, chest pain or pressure, loss of consciousness, or symptoms suggestive of a stroke, such as sudden weakness, facial drooping, or difficulty speaking,” Scott says.