The best at-home exercises for leg lymphedema

Leg lymphedema affects ~140,000 cancer survivors per year, as a result of radiation and lymph node removal.

It affects your mobility, social life, and work, bringing you added financial stress and many challenges.

Previously, it was thought that you could do nothing about it.

But, contrary to what you may have been told, there are ways to reduce leg lymphedema and improve your health and well-being.

The old advice of avoiding strenuous and repetitive motion is outdated, and exercise is beneficial in reducing swelling, improving lymphatic stimulation, and strengthening your legs.

Small changes to your life could drastically improve your well-being, social life, confidence, and body image.

Imagine how much your life would improve if you could go out more, your clothes fit better, and you felt confident in your body because you were able to stand longer, walk farther, and have less leg discomfort.

So, in this blog, YOU will learn:

What type of exercises improve lymphatic drainage
What the best at-home exercises are for leg lymphedema, including how many reps and sets to do.
How to take holistic care to reduce leg lymphedema at home.

Keep in mind, there are a few principles to know before getting started that will guide you as you go:

Muscle movement (contraction) is a pump for the lymphatic system. Unlike blood circulation, the lymphatic system has no central pump, such as the heart, to move fluid to the lymph glands.
Instead, it uses movement from the surrounding muscles as a “pump” system to move the fluid out of the swollen limb.
Gravity is against you. Your legs tend to “pull” fluids down towards your legs due to gravity, and the fluid pools.
This is normal and common; however, in the case of lymphedema, gravity is a counterforce your muscles have to work against.
So, exercising with your legs elevated will help.
Your legs require a longer distance to move fluids. Lower-leg lymphedema is different than upper-body lymphedema due to the size of your legs vs. your arms.
There is a greater amount of lymph fluid to move for a longer distance due to the length and size of your legs.
Therefore, constant motion and a strong force are important to pump fluids into functioning lymph nodes.
Lastly, get creative—alternate legs between single-leg or double-leg exercises, marching exercises, or static holds to help with the process of lowering leg lymphedema at home.
Unlike upper-body lymphedema, which typically affects only one arm, it is more common to have both legs affected with leg lymphedema.
Therefore, working with alternating patterns and single-leg exercises may be helpful to progress.

If you want at-home workouts already designed for you, click here to get 30 workouts today for free, so you can get started hassle-free.

AT-HOME LYING LEG EXERCISES FOR LYMPHEDEMA

Starting to exercise at home will help maximize your progress before adding on more weight. The more sedentary you are, the more the fluids “pool” in your body.

There are 3 main ways to improve lymphatic flow: lying down, sitting or standing, and cardio.

All three should be done sporadically throughout the day to improve lymphatic flow and should take you <10 mins each.

Now, let’s get started with your at-home exercises for reducing leg lymphedema.

1) Torso Rotation: This helps promote lymphatic flow away from your legs and into your trunk, where the fluid can now flow from your legs and throughout your body. This workout is meant to be progressive, and it is not 3 different movements but rather one that can be done in three different ways, depending on your hip and core strength.

Start off using a ball to help support your lower back, hips, and core. Do 3-5 rotations to start, and increase your reps as you get stronger until you reach 15 reps both sides.

The best at-home exercises for leg lymphedema — BEGINNER

When starting, do short ranges of motion. You do not need to go all the way to the ground. The goal is to get fluid back into the core, and small rotations with your feet elevated will help. Once it becomes easy, incorporate larger ranges of motion.

Once your core is stronger and you reach a point where you can lift your legs unassisted, keep the knees slightly bent and continue with a short range of motion, bringing the legs only slightly outside of the hips.

You may feel this exercise in your lower back, so make sure you have some support for your lower back and tighten your core. Once this becomes easy, go ahead and straighten out your legs and work on your range of motion.

2) 3 - Way Leg Lifts: This is one exercise that must be done in three different ways—forward, side and up.

Do 8-15 reps on each side, and then change exercises. To get the most benefit, keep your legs straight to allow gravity and your muscles to push fluids to your core.

If you can’t reach 8 reps with the legs straight, start with your legs bent, and continue until you can reach 15 reps before you straighten your legs.
You can go as fast or as slow as you need to. play around with different tempos and combinations as you go through the movement to make the exercises more fun.
Once you can do 15 reps of each with a straight leg, add in a small circular motion with the leg straight. The goal is to progress and make the exercises harder as you go.

3) Hip Raises. This strengthens your glutes, core, and lower back. These are not three different exercises to do, but rather one exercise to progress with. Start with the glute bridge first, and then make it harder once you can do 15 reps easily.

Start with two feet on the ground first, and slowly work your way up until there is a straight line from your shoulder to your knee. Try reaching 15 reps for 2-3 sets.
Once that becomes easy, work on lifting your hips off the ground, and once they are up, kick one foot up bring it back down and lower your hips.

Once that is easy, you can do this on one leg to raise the hips up. Lastly, use an elevated surface, such as TRX bands or a chair, to elevate your feet and continue to raise your hips. This last variation sounds easy, but we promise you, it is the most challenging.

SEATED LEG EXERCISES FOR LEG LYMPHEDEMA TO BREAK UP INACTIVITY

Sitting and being physically inactive is one of the worst things for lymphedema. Think of it as having a car and never driving it. It will damage the car.

Or having water that is stuck in one place and gets polluted.

It’s the same with lymphedema.

It’s important to stay in motion with different exercises to keep lymphatic flow and reduce flare-ups.

1) Sit-to-Stand: an exercise that engages multiple muscles—back, legs, butt, hips, calves, and core to get your body from sitting to standing and help bring lymph fluid from the legs to your trunk. Focus on your body squatting down towards the chair without “plopping.” Once this becomes easy, don’t sit fully on the chair, but rather, touch the chair and stand up in a rapid motion. The goal is 30 reps total broken down into however many sets you prefer. You can do 3 sets of 10 reps or 2 sets of 15 reps.

2) Marching: an exercise that can be done sitting or standing—however you prefer, but the goal is to keep the legs in motion and not let the fluid be in one place. Swing your arms back and forth as you move your legs and try to do 30 reps all together to break up sedentary time throughout the day.

3) Knee Extension: a simple movement designed to be done anywhere—whether at home, at the office, watching TV, or sitting on the bench. This is a quick and simple movement that can be done to stimulate flow. This is not a strengthening exercise but rather a “get-some-movement-in-when-you-can” type of exercise.

AT-HOME CARDIO WORKOUT FOR LEG LYMPHEDEMA

While doing bodyweight exercises is important for improving joint strength, flexibility, and pumping fluid back into healthy lymph nodes, cardio, on the other hand, is the building block to help your body last longer while doing a certain task.

Not only does it help with lymphatic flow to the rest of your body, but it is also the main determinant to reduce cancer reoccurrence risk and reduce the chemo toxicity that affects your heart.

It keeps your heart and cells healthy.

For cardio, you DO NOT NEED TO RUN.

A light or brisk walk alone can reduce the risk of tumor recurrence by 20-33%, lower the risk of diabetes, improve your walking speed, and reduce peripheral neuropathy symptoms.

FOCUS ON FREQUENCY FIRST. The goal is to do 3-5 days a week of a leisurely or brisk walk for 20-60 mins. The fewer days you walk, the longer your walk will have to be and vice versa.

We have found that 30 minutes, 4-5 days a week is the sweet spot for most cancer survivors with leg lymphedema. 4-5 days a week is the perfect way to balance out cancer fatigue. It gives you enough time to exercise and rest throughout the week.

ADD TIME AS YOU GO. Even though 30 mins, 5 days a week is the goal, you may not be ready to start there, and that’s ok.

Start with 10 mins — 5 mins out and 5 mins back daily, and slowly build up to 30 mins in a month or two.

THE FINAL THING YOU WANT TO DO IS INCREASE INTENSITY. Your walk should be maintained at a MODERATE intensity.

“Moderate” can vary from person to person, but in general, it means you’re working hard enough to raise your heart rate a little higher than usual and break into a sweat without being out of breath.

There are two main methods to know whether you are reaching a moderate intensity.

One is the talk test, where you can talk but not sing.

The other is using your heart rate.

The goal is to reach the lower HR and slowly work your way up to the higher range.

LASTLY, TAKE HOLISTIC CARE OF YOUR HEALTH

By keeping your body active through small bouts of exercise and constant motion through walking or chores, you will be helping your body “pump” fluids up and into functioning lymph nodes.

While cardio and leg exercises help promote lymphatic flow and help break up sedentary time, it is still crucial to Rebuild Strength in Your Legs After Cancer.

Some soreness will be normal after exercise. It is just an indication of “newness” to the body, and it is telling you, “I was not used to that motion.”

So, the more often you do a motion, the less sore you will get.

If you want to minimize soreness you can do lower reps (around 6-8) and lower sets (1-2).

In reality, you don’t need a lot of sets to see benefits, 1-2 working sets are enough.

Additionally, it is important to meet with a physical therapist or lymphatic drainage specialist to do some manual drainage and fit you into a proper garment or sleeve.

Your physical therapist will be able to give you a full plan to manage lymphedema, including manual lymphatic drainage, properly fitted compression garments, and at-home exercises to supplement the manual drainage.

The combination of manual drainage, compression, and exercise will lead to the best results for keeping fluid in active motion and stop it from “pooling” as much.

While going out for walks is important, it’s important to keep your body moving. So, it’s still crucial to get enough daily steps in. To include more steps into your day, focus on:

Taking the dog for a walk more often
Going on family walks/hikes on trails around the neighborhood

Listening to music and dancing
Walking to work or taking public transportation
Looking for ways to walk to people and places
Walking and talking
Walking around when you have to wait
Scheduling walks after lunch or workday walks
Parking farther away or choosing the furthest bathroom
Taking the stairs

This will seem uncomfortable at first, but the more you do it, the easier it will be to get more steps in, and you will slowly notice your life changing.

Instead of the marketable 10,000 steps a day, try adding 1,500 steps more monthly until you reach 7,500 steps a day.

Check out how to reduce leg lymphedema to have the best holistic treatment for Reducing Leg Lymphedema and learn the best ways to prevent infection.

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