People with any kind of liver disease should take up both aerobic and weight-bearing exercises, as they each play a different role in fighting liver disease. Aerobic exercise trains the heart, lungs, and entire cardiovascular system to process and deliver oxygen more quickly and efficiently to every part of the body. It’s the kind of exercise that gets the heart pumping. As one becomes more aerobically fit, the heart won’t have to work as hard to pump blood to the rest of the body, including the liver. The pulse will begin to slow down, making it easier for the liver to send back to the rest of the body the blood it has just filtered. The benefits of being an aerobically fit person include an overall improved energy level, which translates into decreased fatigue. Swimming is an excellent and safe aerobic exercise for people with liver disease. Swimming regularly in a chlorinated public pool is safe. Chemical disinfectants contained in pool water such as chlorine may result in the formation of potentially hazardous chemical by-products. However, it has been concluded that the risks to the body from these by-products at the amounts at which they are present in pool water are very small in comparison to the risks associated with inadequate disinfection or the health benefits reaped from swimming. In fact studies have shown that the lifetime exposure to disinfectant by-products from swimming pools is typically less than from drinking water!
Weight-bearing exercises build up both bones and muscles. People with liver disease need good strong bones because many people, especially those with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) or decompensated liver disease are prone to osteoporosis. Weight training is the best way to fight against this, as stronger muscles equal stronger bones.Thus, it is also important for all people to incorporate weight-bearing exercises into their daily exercise routines. Of course, if already diagnosed with osteoporosis it is important to check with your doctor which specific weight-bearing exercises to avoid for your particular diagnosis and degree of bone loss.