Frequently asked questions

Exercise does burn calories, which can lead to weight loss. However, one of the benefits of exercise is that you will build muscle, which is important for your overall health. Building muscle can also help you gain weight and maintain a healthy weight. Exercise can also increase your appetite so you may feel like eating more than if you are inactive. It is important to work with a registered dietician to make sure you are getting enough calories from healthy food sources if you are using exercise to gain (or lose) weight.

This is a natural thing to experience as a transplant patient. Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to start the exercise. Once you start it, you may be surprised that it actually make you feel better. If you are taught how to monitor yourself and how to exercise to a level that gets you “slightly short-of-breath but still able to talk”, then your body will naturally adjust the level of activity that it can tolerate on any given day.

No, this is not the case. In fact, exercise actually helps to build your endurance, which is important when you undergo the transplant procedure and for recovery. To minimize the issue of energy, you can practice “energy conservation”. This means, you do activities that require the most of your energy at the time of day when you feel the most energetic. If you are a morning person, you can exercise in the morning, then take a rest before doing your other activities. You can also take frequent rest breaks during your exercise or activity, rather than one long break at the end.

Other tips for conserving energy throughout your day are:

• Use good body mechanics – this can be done by maintaining good posture when sitting, standing and moving
• Eliminate unnecessary steps – for example, if you are going to cook something, gather all of your ingredients on the counter from the fridge and pantry before you start so you don’t have to keep walking around the kitchen
• Sit for certain activities instead of standing
• Pace yourself throughout the day and have rest time scheduled
• Exercise on alternate days
• Use of assistance devices (walker, bath bench)

It depends! If you are waiting for a transplant, have recently received one or are not doing well, then it is better to have someone present just in case something goes wrong (you do not feel well or get injured). However, if you are a long-term recipient or stable transplant candidate and have participated in an exercise program for a number of weeks, you are comfortable exercising, and have been exercising for a while, then it may be okay to exercise alone. Exercising with a buddy is more fun and can provide additional motivation!

When exercising, the goal should be to exercise at a pace that gets you “slightly short-of-breath but still able to talk” and to do that for as long as possible. Walking at a slower pace for longer is the better way to improve cardiovascular endurance.

The key is to balance the activity of walking with elevating your feet throughout the day. Walking helps the muscles in your legs pump the fluid back into circulation, and elevating your feet helps to reduce swelling. Both are important but too much of either one is not good.

No, this would not be a good idea because of the falls risk. If you want to increase the intensity of your exercise, you can wrap weights around your wrists instead.

No! It is best to use the walker until you don’t need it any longer. The walker helps with your balance and without it, a fall or fracture could delay a transplant or prolong post-transplant recovery. If you are using the walker to carry your oxygen, this is a good way to conserve your energy for your daily activities rather than getting tired by carrying it. Also, using a walker may help some people feel less short of breath and walk farther. It may boost your confidence, as you will always have a place to rest.

Yes, stair climbing is a type of exercise – stepping up and down 2-3 steps slowly can be an alternate exercise but it is not recommended for some transplant candidates and recipients because of the risk of falls. Stair climbing is quite intense and may not be suitable for everyone. A simple exercise that does not require any specialized equipment is walking and is a good alternative option.