How to reduce leg lymphedema at the gym.

Your oncologist may have not given you much guidance on how to treat lymphedema.

But exercise, when combined with manual drainage, and compression is one of the best ways to help reduce leg lymphedema.

Contrary to the circulatory system, which has the heart to pump blood through your body, your lymphatic system has no central pump to move fluid to the lymph glands.

Instead, it uses surrounding muscles as a “pump” system to move the fluid .

Therefore, the more you move and exercise, the more you help your body “pump” the excess fluid out of the swollen limb and into your trunk

The good news is that exercise can safely be done after lymph node removal and weightlifting is an important component to keeping your body healthy.

It helps :

reduce lymphedema
lose fat
build muscle
strengthen your bones and joints
improve your mobility
enhance flexibility

Your body is made to move, and the more you move, the better.

Therefore, in this blog, you will learn:

Safety when exercising for lower leg lymphedema
What types of exercises are best for leg lymphedema
What are the best weightlifting exercises for leg lymphedema

Now let’s get started.

SAFE GUIDELINES TO FOLLOW WHEN EXERCISING FOR LEG LYMPHEDEMA

There are many exercises that help reduce leg lymphedema,

*oncology-based pilates
*oncology-based yoga
water aerobics
cardio

These are all great exercises to add into your daily routine if you like this form of exercise.

It is important; however, to make sure you are led by a cancer-certified instructor, as a regular yoga or pilates instructor may not know your limitations and can cause more harm than good.

Working with a cancer exercise specialist certified by “CETI” or “ACSM-CET” certification will help keep you safe and give you the best results.

Moreover, while water-based exercises are good and may be needed to start out, aerobic exercises on land are better.

If you do use water aerobics as a starting point, you should slowly transition or add some cardio on land as well.

Lastly, here are some general guidelines to keep you safe and give you the best results.:

Complete an at-home exercise plan, which includes manual therapy by a physical therapist.
If you join a class or get a trainer, only work with a cancer exercise trainer or specialist.
If you have neuropathy, make sure to have support, such as Nordic pools on walks or hikes, railings, or using seated/reclined cardio machines.
Avoid slippery surfaces when neuropathy is present or if your balance is unsteady.
Avoid strain or holding your breath during your exercises,
Avoid high-intensity, high-impact exercises, or extreme temperatures, such as saunas or hot pilates/yoga.
Do not exercise when there is a flare-up, and stop exercising if there is swelling or puffiness.
Generally, you may not need bandages or compression sleeves during exercise, but talk to your provider to know whether they are right for you.
If compression sleeves are needed, make sure to get properly fitted to reach optimal benefits during exercise, as they may help keep fluid out.

BEST TYPE OF EXERCISE FOR LEG LYMPHEDEMA

The three best type of gym exercises are those that:

Create muscle movement
Build strength
Provide you support

A. Muscle movement

You need muscle movement (contraction) to pump lymphatic fluid toward your torso and out of the swollen limb.

Therefore, bigger muscles and less surrounding fat around the muscle helps to pump more fluid.

The best gym exercises for leg lymphedema

Machines will be best for muscle building, as they help isolate your muscles for muscle growth.

In addition, due to gravity and damaged lymph vessels, “pooling” of lymph fluid down towards your legs is common.

This is normal and happens with your blood as well.

For example, if you have ever stood up too fast and got dizzy right after, it’s because you had blood that was “pooled” in your legs that didn’t reach your brain by the time you got up.

As you moved, your calves tightened and rushed blood back up to your brain, steadying you.

This is the same idea with lymphedema. Movement helps push fluid up and out of your legs against gravity.

B. Strength building

Lower leg lymphedema is different than upper body lymphedema due to the size of your legs compared to your arms.

By default, your legs require more force to push fluid to a longer distance and move fluids into your torso.

The greater the amount of lymph fluid to move for a longer distance, the more force you need.

Therefore, constant motion and a strong force are important to pump fluids into functioning lymph nodes.

So in this case, building strength will help you produce greater force to push fluids to your torso.

3. Support for stabilization

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 by:

alternating between legs
using double-leg exercising
and pulse exercises

Each of these will help push fluids into your torso.

**EXAMPLE B**
This is an example of does not having support.

The weight could fall on you.
It requires your muscles to “support” you and the weight.

Proper support helps keep you safe and helps to target the muscles you desire more effectively

Machine or supported exercises are also easier to learn and progress with and ultimately give you the best results.

Exercises that offer support are those that keep you or the weight in place, such as:

Smith machine
Leg press
Leg extension
Bench row or curl
TRX (total body resistance) suspensions squats

This is not an exhaustive list but rather one that gives you ideas of starting exercises to focus on.

Lastly, make sure to stretch.

While stretching won’t directly help lymphatic flow, it is a type of exercise that contributes to reducing skin scars and helps muscles and joints increase their flexibility and mobility.

Thus, when you exercise, you will be able to get more motion and more benefits.

Consider someone who can squat to the ground verses someone who can only do a partial squat.

Both forms of exercise are great, but the one who can do a deep squat will be able to target the glutes more than a partial squat ever will.

The key is to make sure to hold your stretches for at least 10 seconds when starting out and gradually increase the time for a month until you can hold it for 30 seconds and repeat twice.

Make sure to get a good stretch on all aspects of your legs.

Glutes
Hips
Calves
Hamstrings (back of the thigh)
Quadriceps or “quads” ( front of the thigh)
Groin

You do not want to overstretch to the point of pain; instead, go until you are feeling a light to mild discomfort.

BEST WEIGHT LIFTING EXERCISES FOR LEG LYMPHEDEMA

In order to help build muscle and strength, support is needed.

Therefore, all the following exercises will provide you with some form of support.

The use of machines and TRX suspension or using a bench and machines will help you best.

Machines will be the best for building muscle and strength, while TRX suspension will help you best with strength and mobility.

A. Machines

Machines are a great starting point,as they greatly reduce the risk of:

injury
fall risk
are easy to use

You can control the weight much better, as balance is not required, and it’s great because it helps isolate the muscle group you are working.

When it comes to machines, the leg press, leg curls, and calf press are your 3 best friends for maximized muscle gains with reduced injury risk.

All three are an incredible exercise that when done correctly can improve your walking speed, reduce fall risk, and build strength and muscle around your legs,

It targets 9 different muscle groups with just 3 exercises, to build muscle and isolate muscle growth.

Leg Press can provide you with the best hip stability and allows you to target your glutes and quads the best, depending on your stance.
Hamstring Curl can be done lying down, seated, or standing. The key is to choose the one you feel the most comfortable with and practice using the full range of motion with lighter weights. Seated or standing hmstring curls are best for muscle growth, but lying down is also an option.
Calf Press can be done with your legs straight or slightly bent. For the best results, do 1-2 sets with the legs straight and 1-2 sets with the knees bent. Straight legs will target the calves, and knees bent will target the soleus.You will feel this on your Achilles, and both will help reduce planter fasciitis pain.

Keep in mind, it does require some upper body strength and support before you get started, as that is your “safety net.”

You can do TRX:

Squats
Reverse lunges
Crossing lunges
Knee raises
Leg curls
Elevated hip raise

Start by strengthening the squat first and working on getting up from greater ranges of motion that you feel comfortable with.

Shoot for either 3 sets of 10 or 2 sets of 15 reps.

Then, slowly add knee raises to each squat to get more motion in.

Once you have the squat with greater depth, add lunges at short ranges of motion.

Many people make the mistake of adding lungs too soon without properly building the squat first.

FREQUENCY, INTENSITY, AND PROGRESSION

HOW OFTEN SHOULD I WORK OUT?

You do not need to exercise every day, but you do need to move everyday.

Remember, exercise and movement help prevent pooling.

So, all it takes is a 30-minute walk daily paired with 2-4 days a week of full-body, weighted movements to see significant improvements.

The goal is to reach 4 days a week over several months, but it is best to start with 2 days a week and add more days as you get more consistent.

For the best results, however, check out how to reduce leg lymphedema or your ultimate survivor’s guide to lymphedema for more in-depth details on holistic treatment.

HOW MANY SETS AND REPS DO I NEED?

You don’t need to spend countless hours at the gym doing countless reps and sets either.

All you need is 2-3 sets per leg exercise for 6-15 reps.

Starting out, you MAY experience some soreness, and some minimal soreness is normal.

However, to minimize soreness, you can do 6-12 reps for 1-2 sets.

The goal is not to stay at the same weight, but rather progress and make the exercise harder as you become more consistent.

HOW HEAVY SHOULD I GO?

Your exercise sessions DO NOT NEED TO BE INTENSE, and you DON’T need to be adding in 1,000 lbs.

Light movements are enough to improve lymphatic flow, and lifting with a moderate weight is enough to improve your strength and build muscle.

How heavy you should lift is dependent on how the weight feels to YOU.

A moderate weight is one that you can lift for 6-15 reps without exhausting yourself but still feeling your muscles work.

Use the Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) scale to help you decide if you should increase weight.

In general the higher the RPE, the more sore you will be, and the more benefits you will get.

So, you do not need to work at an RPE of 8, 9, or 10 to see benefits.

In fact, staying within an RPE of 4-7 or even 3-5 when getting started will be enough to stimulate strength when starting

remember the RPE scale is used to measure how hard YOU feel the exercise felt.

HOW DO I KNOW WHEN TO INCREASE WEIGHT

A goal of lifting 2.5-5 lbs more every 3-4 weeks is great progression.

If you can do 30 reps (3 sets of 10 reps or 2 sets of 15 reps) without your muscle getting tired and there is no puffiness or swelling after your exercise session, you may increase to the next weight.

Increasing weight at your own pace without pain or strain is important, so use the RPE scale to know when you should increase weight. The goal is to work out a weight that makes you feel between a 3-7 RPE.

There is no right or wrong answer. If you felt the exercise was hard, then drop the weight by 2-5 lbs or do fewer reps.

I FEEL FATIGUED TODAY; SHOULD I EXERCISE?

Inactivity can make lymphedema worse, so daily movement is essential.

Particularly for cancer survivors, the amount of tiredness the exercise produces in your body is not always the same

For example. lets say you are doing a TRX squat, and on days you feel good, you may be able to do 10 squats without much effort.

But on other days, you might do the same exercise, and you can only do 7 squats before you are exhausted.

This is not a bad response. It is very common, especially when fatigue hits.

Don’t be alarmed if one day you can do it, and the next day you struggle.

Instead, take advantage of the days you feel better and work within a somewhat moderate range.

How hard or how easy an exercise is for you today is not always reflective of how tiresome it will feel at a different time.

So, it’s important to remember the rule of “doing what you can and what your body gives you for today.”

Do not be discouraged. This does not mean you are losing progress.

instead, jot down how you feel after each exercise, using the RPE scale see how your energy improves throughout time.

You might notice on days you are fatigued, you can do more reps for more weight, meaning even on your “weakest day” you are getting stronger.

IN CONCLUSION

Your oncologist may have not told you all the details on how to properly manage lymphedema, what the best exercises are, and how to handle cancer treatment.

Something as short and simple as being consistent for 5 months with the lightweight training mentioned above can improve your leg strength by 50 lbs.

That’s the difference between walking normally, having less fatigue, walking faster, and feeling lighter and less uncomfortable when you walk.

More and more studies are showing that exercise helps, and our online cancer survivors have seen tremendous benefits, such as:

Reduced discomfort
Being able to return to work
Looking slimmer
Strengthening their body
Building muscle definition
Improving social life to travel, walk, and stand longer

Remember, you are NOT alone in this journey, and you have powerful forms of therapy at your disposal to help reduce leg lymphedema by 45-70%.

Get started on your exercise journey

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It is equipped with fat-loss tips and 101 workouts (including at-home exercises) to get you started on your fitness journey.

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