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Keeping active with a lung condition

Find out more about staying active and how it can benefit your health.

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British Lung Foundation

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Join the fight for clean air

Air pollution is a health emergency. Across the UK it is at lethal levels and too little is being done to tackle it. Take action on our clean air campaigns hub today and read our latest report, The Invisible threat.

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Coronavirus and COVID-19

The latest information on coronavirus if you live with a lung condition, all in one place. It includes guidance for the clinically extremely vulnerable, advice on face coverings and information on recovering from COVID-19.

COPD survey homepage

Our first Annual COPD Survey

We’re running the first Annual COPD Survey, and we want to hear about your experiences of care for and living with COPD. Your answers will help us make sure everyone with COPD gets the care they're entitled to- and help us fight to improve care for you.

Together, we’re making sure that one day everyone will breathe clean air with healthy lungs.

Lungs

Your right lung is a little larger than the left

How your lungs work

Time

Somebody dies from lung disease every 5 minutes

Lung disease in the UK statistics

Research

In 30 years, we've spent over £30m on lung research

Our research

Phone

Our helpline answers more than 20,000 calls a year

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  • Health Unlocked
  • Support for you
    • Alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency
      • Overview
      • What is it?
      • Causes
      • Symptoms
      • Diagnosis
      • Treatment
      • Staying healthy with AATD
    • Bronchiectasis in children
      • Overview
      • What is it, symptoms and diagnosis
      • Treatment
    • Bronchiolitis
      • Overview
      • What is it?
      • Symptoms and diagnosis
      • Treatment
      • Prevention
    • Bronchopulmonary dysplasia
      • Overview
      • What is it and causes
      • Treatment
      • Complications
    • Cystic fibrosis
      • Overview
      • What is it, causes and symptoms
      • Diagnosis
      • Treatment
      • Prevention
    • Dealing with your mental health
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    • Pneumonia in children
      • Overview
      • What is pneumonia, symptoms and diagnosis
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    • Primary ciliary dyskinesia
      • Overview
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      • Overview
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      • Overview
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      • Overview
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    • Bronchiectasis
      • Overview
      • What is it, causes and symptoms
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      • Carers and families
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    • COPD
      • Overview
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        • Emphysema
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    • OSA in children
      • Overview
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    • Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS)
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    • IPF
      • Overview
      • What is IPF?
      • Causes
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    • Lung cancer
      • Overview
      • What is it and causes
      • Symptoms
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      • Support
    • Mesothelioma
      • Overview
      • What is it?
      • Symptoms
      • Diagnosis
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        • Chemotherapy
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        • Treating pleural effusion
      • Your feelings and support
        • Financial support
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      • Your mesothelioma stories
    • Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA)
      • Overview
      • What is OSA?
      • Symptoms of OSA
      • Diagnosis
        • Epworth Sleepiness Scale
      • Treatment
      • CPAP machines
        • CPAP problems and solutions
      • Driving if you have OSA
      • Holidays and travel
      • Further information
    • Pneumonia
      • Overview
      • What is it?
      • Prevention
      • Diagnosis and treatment
      • Recovery
      • Your pneumonia stories
    • Pulmonary embolism
      • Overview
      • Symptoms
      • Causes
      • Diagnosis
      • Treatment
      • Prevention
    • Pulmonary hypertension
      • Overview
      • What is it?
      • Causes
      • Diagnosis
      • Treatment
    • Sarcoidosis
      • Overview
      • What is it
      • Symptoms
      • Diagnosis
      • Treatment
      • What to expect
    • Tuberculosis
      • Overview
      • What is it?
      • Symptoms and diagnosis
      • Can I infect other people?
      • How is it treated?
    • Keeping active with a lung condition
      • Overview
      • Why is it important?
      • How will it affect my breathing?
      • How active should I aim to be?
      • What activities could I do?
      • Pulmonary rehabilitation
      • How to stay motivated
      • Help and support
      • Your keeping active stories
    • How your lungs work
      • Overview
      • About your lungs
      • Why do you breathe?
      • Oxygen and blood
      • What else do the lungs do?
    • Eating well
      • Overview
      • Why is it important?
      • Staying a healthy weight
        • I’m putting on too much weight
        • I’ve lost weight
      • Common questions
      • Following a restricted diet
      • Stories about living with a lung condition
    • Air pollution
      • Overview
      • What is it?
      • Where does it come from?
      • Types
      • Effects
      • Who’s at risk?
      • What can I do?
      • Your air pollution stories
    • Quitting smoking
      • Overview
      • Why is smoking bad for me?
      • How can I quit?
        • Am I ready?
      • When will I feel better?
      • Withdrawal symptoms
      • Your stop smoking stories
    • Breathlessness
      • Overview
      • What is it?
      • Causes
      • Diagnosis
      • Treatment
      • How to manage breathlessness
        • Positions for obstructive lung conditions
        • Positions for restrictive lung conditions
      • Living well with breathlessness
      • Sex and breathlessness
      • Your breathlessness stories
    • Indoor air pollution
      • Overview
      • What is indoor air pollution?
      • What are the effects?
      • What are the causes?
      • Allergies in your home
      • How can I improve the air quality in my home?
      • Indoor air pollution at work
    • Welfare benefits
      • Overview
      • Am I eligible?
      • Care and mobility benefits
      • Unable to work
      • Work related compensation
      • Benefits and support for carers
      • Additional benefits
      • How can I get help with heating costs?
    • End of life
      • Overview
      • Thinking ahead
      • Advance care plan
      • Practicalities
      • Emotions
      • Talking to children
      • Spirituality
      • Physical signs
      • Caring for a loved one
      • Time of death
      • Further information
        • Glossary
      • Your end of life stories
    • Going on holiday
      • Overview
      • How and where?
      • In the UK
      • Abroad
      • Flying with a lung condition
      • Practical issues
        • Checklist
      • Holidaying with oxygen
      • Useful contacts
      • Stories about living with a lung condition
    • Oxygen
      • Overview
      • What is it?
      • How does it help?
      • When is a referral made?
      • How is it delivered?
      • Life with oxygen
      • Stories about living with a lung condition
    • Sex and breathlessness
      • Overview
      • Managing sex and breathlessness
      • Medications and sex
    • Children's lungs
      • Your children's condition stories
    • Asthma
    • Asthma in children
    • Breathe Easy
      • Burnley Exercise Class
      • Integrated Breathe Easy
      • Tameside & Glossop
      • Volunteer celebration 2020
    • Breathing and lung function tests
      • Overview
      • Getting ready for your test
      • Measuring breathing
        • Peak flow test
        • Spirometry and reversibility test
        • Lung volume test
        • Gas transfer (or TLco) test
        • Respiratory muscle tests
        • Exhaled carbon monoxide test
        • Exhaled nitric oxide test
        • Bronchial challenge tests
      • Measuring oxygen levels
      • Measuring exercise capacity
      • Measuring breathing during sleep
      • Imaging scans
      • Looking inside your lungs
    • Bronchiolitis obliterans in children
    • Caring for someone with a lung condition
      • Overview
      • Who is a carer?
      • Tips from other carers
      • Making difficult decisions
      • Your stories about being a carer
    • Cold weather
    • Congenital pulmonary airway malformation (CPAM)
    • Coronavirus
      • Coronavirus and living with a lung condition
        • Should I wear a face covering?
        • What should I do if I have COPD?
        • What should I do if I have an ILD?
      • Guidance for the clinically extremely vulnerable
        • Who is clinically extremely vulnerable?
      • What is coronavirus?
      • If you have symptoms
      • How will I recover if I’ve had coronavirus?
      • Staying at home
        • What’s the difference between self-isolation, social distancing and shielding?
      • Coronavirus vaccine
    • Cryptogenic organising pneumonia (COP)
    • Eosinophilic lung conditions
    • Helpline
      • How we help
    • Hot weather
    • How children’s lungs grow
    • Legionnaires’ disease
    • Long COVID
      • Overview
      • What is long COVID?
        • Common symptoms
        • When will I get back to normal?
      • Long COVID and your lungs
        • Managing breathlessness
        • Managing a cough
      • Recovering from long COVID
        • Managing your energy
        • Managing your mental health
      • Long COVID care in the NHS
        • How long have you had symptoms?
        • Rehabilitation after staying in hospital
        • What if I don’t have a rehabilitation plan?
        • What treatment can I expect if I have Long COVID symptoms?
      • Supporting your recovery
    • Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM)
    • Nebulisers
      • Overview
      • What is it?
      • Who can benefit?
      • Using a nebuliser at home
      • Cleaning
    • Non-tuberculous mycobacterial infection (NTM)
    • Pectus carinatum
    • Pectus excavatum
    • Pneumothorax (collapsed lung)
    • Pneumothorax in children
    • Pseudomonas infection
    • Pulmonary fibrosis
      • Overview
      • What is pulmonary fibrosis?
      • How does it affect your breathing?
      • Causes
      • Symptoms
      • Diagnosis
      • Treatment
        • Hypersensitivity pneumonitis
        • Occupational interstitial lung diseases
        • Connective tissue and autoimmune diseases
        • Drug-induced pulmonary fibrosis
      • Looking after yourself
      • Support
        • Support groups
      • Pulmonary fibrosis personal organiser
      • What questions should I ask?
      • Meet the experts
      • Your pulmonary fibrosis stories
    • Pulmonary haemorrhage (bleeding into the lung)
    • Pulmonary vasculitis
    • Risks to children’s lungs
      • Overview
      • Passive smoking
      • Air pollution
      • Early life risks
      • What can parents do?
    • Sarcoidosis in children
    • Signs of breathing problems in children
    • Singing for lung health
      • Overview
      • Improve your wellbeing
      • What happens in a singing session?
    • Stay active and stay well
      • Aerobic exercises
      • Before you start
      • Cool down and stretching
      • Exercising safely
      • Managing breathlessness
      • Next steps
      • Setting yourself goals
      • Strength exercises
      • Warm up
    • Tuberculosis (TB) in children
    • Web community
    • Aspergillosis
    • Pulmonary hypertension in children
      • Overview
      • What is it, causes and symptoms
      • How is pulmonary hypertension diagnosed and treated in children?
    • Living with a lung condition
      • Your living with a lung condition stories
  • Take action
    • Campaign with us
      • Love your lungs
        • Get involved with Love your lungs week
      • Campaigning with others
      • Campaigns we support
      • Clean air
        • About
        • Clean air champions campaigns hub
          • Clean air champions campaigns toolkit
          • What is a clean air champion?
          • Clean air champion events
        • Take action now to tackle air pollution
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      • Listen to your lungs
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        • Information for health care professionals
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        • What you need to know
      • PM 2.5 - Map
      • An open letter to supermarkets
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    • Challenge yourself
      • Cycle
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      • Walk
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    • Clean air campaigns hub
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      • Help us hit the headlines
      • How air pollution impacts our NHS
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      • Invisible threat: air pollution in your area
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      • What does air pollution do to people with a lung condition?
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