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COPD and Stationary Cycling

It has recently been found that people with chronic bronchitis and emphysema from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) can exercise on a stationary bicycle and improve their lung capacity by approximately 20 percent. This rise in lung capacity can improve the patient’s quality of life by approximately 24 percent

COPD is a condition that causes loss of elasticity of the lung tissue and difficulty in exhaling when breathing. Lung capacity is measured by the amount of air that can be inhaled, the amount of air that can be exhaled, and the amount of air that can be held before being exhaled. This difficulty in breathing causes the patient to have difficulty in engaging in any type of exertion requiring full lung capacity.

One way researchers have discovered that a COPD sufferer can safely engage in effective exercise activities is by providing extra oxygen while the patient pedals a stationary bicycle. While at home, patients have been able to achieve similar effects by pedaling with one leg and resting the other, then switching.

This process allows the patient to exercise the muscles without having to exert maximum lung capacity. This new process involving the use of a stationary bicycle has the potential of helping the COPD patient to achieve a better quality of life. With patience and persistence, daily goals can be met.


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