Stay Strong: The Power of Exercise While Living with Multiple Myeloma
When you're living with multiple myeloma, exercise may be the last thing on your mind—especially on days when fatigue, pain, neuropathy, or treatment side effects make simply getting through the day feel like a workout.
But movement matters.
Regular physical activity can support cardiovascular health, muscle strength, mobility, balance, emotional well-being, sleep, and overall quality of life. Exercise also plays a role in maintaining healthy immune function and controlling inflammation.
For people living with multiple myeloma, however, exercise isn't about pushing harder or proving how strong you are.
It's about finding ways to move safely within the limits of your body.
Exercise and Your Immune System
Physical activity affects many parts of the immune system. During and after moderate exercise, immune cells circulate throughout the body, helping with normal immune surveillance. Regular activity can also help regulate inflammation and reduce stress hormones.
That doesn't mean exercise can prevent myeloma from progressing or replace treatment. Think of physical activity as one piece of supporting your overall health while living with cancer.
Consistency is generally more important than intensity.
A short walk, gentle stretching, or a few minutes of movement may be more beneficial—and more realistic—than occasionally pushing yourself through an exhausting workout.
As Dr. Joseph Mikhael, Chief Medical Officer of the International Myeloma Foundation, has explained:
“We were built to move and to exercise, and even with the diagnosis of multiple myeloma, for the vast majority of our patients, there is a way to exercise.”
The important part is finding your way to move.
Why Exercise Can Be Especially Helpful With Myeloma
Multiple myeloma and its treatments can affect nearly every aspect of physical well-being.
Fatigue can make you less active. Less activity can contribute to muscle weakness and loss of stamina, which can make everyday activities even more exhausting.
Appropriate exercise can help interrupt that cycle.
Depending on your individual health and treatment plan, regular movement may help:
Maintain muscle strength and mobility
Improve balance and coordination
Reduce deconditioning
Support cardiovascular health
Improve sleep
Reduce stress and anxiety
Improve mood
Support healthy blood sugar control
Maintain independence with everyday activities
Reduce some aspects of cancer-related fatigue
Support overall quality of life
Exercise can also help maintain bone and muscle health, but this requires special consideration in multiple myeloma.
Myeloma Bones Require Extra Care
Exercise recommendations for someone with multiple myeloma aren't necessarily the same as recommendations for a healthy person.
Myeloma can weaken bones and cause lytic lesions, fractures, spinal problems, or other skeletal complications. That means certain exercises may be unsafe depending on where your disease has affected your bones.
High-impact activities, contact sports, jumping, twisting movements, and heavy lifting may be inappropriate for some patients.
If you have bone lesions, osteoporosis, previous fractures, spinal involvement, or significant bone pain, talk with your healthcare team before beginning resistance or weight-bearing exercises. A physical therapist familiar with cancer or myeloma can be particularly helpful in determining which movements are safe.
The goal isn't to avoid movement.
It's to find safe movement.
Don't Forget About Neuropathy
Peripheral neuropathy is another consideration for many myeloma patients.
Numbness, tingling, weakness, or decreased sensation in your feet can affect your balance and increase your risk of falling.
If neuropathy affects your feet or legs, be especially cautious with exercises that require significant balance or involve slippery or uneven surfaces.
You may feel safer exercising near a sturdy chair, railing, or wall. Depending on your abilities, seated exercises may also provide an effective alternative.
There's nothing wrong with modifying an exercise.
Safe exercise is better than impressive exercise.
Exercise May Help With Treatment-Related Health Risks
Some medications used during myeloma treatment, particularly corticosteroids, can affect blood sugar, muscle strength, bone health, sleep, appetite, and weight.
Regular physical activity can improve insulin sensitivity and help the body regulate blood glucose. It can also support cardiovascular health and help preserve muscle.
People with multiple myeloma may also have an increased risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE), particularly when taking certain medications or when other risk factors are present.
Regular movement can support circulation and reduce prolonged periods of inactivity. However, exercise does not replace medications or other measures your healthcare team may prescribe to prevent blood clots.
If you develop sudden swelling, warmth, redness, or pain in an arm or leg—or sudden shortness of breath or chest pain—seek medical attention promptly rather than attempting to exercise through it.
Exercise Can Help Your Mind, Too
The benefits of movement aren't limited to your muscles.
Living with an incurable cancer can bring anxiety, depression, fear of progression, uncertainty, and enormous emotional stress.
Physical activity can provide a mental break from cancer.
It may help improve mood, reduce stress, promote better sleep, and give you something positive to focus on that isn't a lab result, appointment, medication, or treatment.
And exercise doesn't have to happen in a gym to count.
Walking your dog counts.
Gardening counts.
Stretching while watching television counts.
Dancing around your kitchen counts.
Movement is movement.
Finding an Activity That Works for You
There is no perfect myeloma workout.
Your ideal activity depends on your bone health, treatment status, blood counts, neuropathy, balance, cardiovascular health, fatigue level, and overall fitness.
Some options to discuss with your healthcare team include:
Walking
Walking is accessible, requires little equipment, and can easily be adjusted to your energy level.
You don't have to begin with 30 minutes.
Start with five or ten if that's what your body can manage.
Swimming or Water Exercise
Water-based exercise can provide cardiovascular activity while reducing stress on the joints.
However, patients with compromised immune systems, central lines, wounds, or certain treatment-related restrictions should ask their healthcare team whether swimming or public pools are appropriate.
Yoga and Gentle Stretching
Yoga and stretching can help maintain flexibility, balance, and mobility while providing relaxation and stress relief.
Some traditional yoga positions may need to be modified for people with spinal involvement, bone lesions, fractures, or balance problems.
Tai Chi
Tai Chi combines slow, controlled movements with balance, breathing, and concentration. It can be a gentle way to stay active while also supporting relaxation.
Resistance Training
Light resistance exercises may help preserve muscle strength.
Resistance bands, light weights, body-weight exercises, or other equipment may be appropriate for some patients—but resistance training should be individualized when myeloma has affected the bones.
Don't assume that "light" automatically means safe. Where your bone lesions are located matters.
Start Small
One of the biggest mistakes people make when returning to exercise is trying to do too much too quickly.
Your body has been through a lot.
Start slowly and build gradually.
You might begin with:
5 minutes of walking.
Then 10.
Then perhaps 15.
Your goal doesn't have to be running a marathon. Your goal may simply be walking around the block without needing to stop.
That's progress.
Pay attention to how you feel during exercise and afterward. If an activity leaves you completely depleted for the rest of the day or several days afterward, you may have pushed beyond what your body currently tolerates.
Know When to Stop
Exercise shouldn't mean ignoring warning signs.
Stop exercising and contact your healthcare team if you experience unusual or severe symptoms such as significant pain, dizziness, fainting, unusual shortness of breath, chest pain, or new weakness.
You may also need to modify or temporarily avoid exercise when you have a fever, infection, significant anemia, very low platelet counts, dehydration, severe treatment side effects, or other medical complications.
Your healthcare team can help you determine when it's safe to resume activity.
Hydration, Nutrition, Sleep, and Recovery Matter Too
Exercise is only one piece of maintaining your health.
Your body also needs adequate nutrition, hydration, sleep, and recovery.
Drink enough fluids based on the recommendations of your healthcare team, particularly if kidney function or medications affect how much fluid is appropriate for you.
Try to eat a balanced diet that provides adequate protein and nutrients to support muscle and overall health.
And don't underestimate sleep.
Recovery is part of exercise—not something separate from it.
Some Days, Rest Is the Exercise Plan
Living with multiple myeloma means your energy level may change dramatically from one day to another.
Yesterday you may have walked two miles.
Today you may need a nap after taking a shower.
That doesn't mean you've failed.
Cancer-related fatigue is real, and treatment can take an enormous toll on your body.
Listen to it.
There will be days to move and days to rest.
The goal isn't perfection. It isn't a certain number of steps, miles, repetitions, or minutes.
It's maintaining as much strength, mobility, independence, and quality of life as your individual circumstances allow.
Multiple myeloma may change how you exercise.
It doesn't necessarily mean you have to stop moving.
Start where you are.
Move in ways that are safe for you.
Rest when your body asks you to.
And celebrate what your body can still do.
Medical Disclaimer: This information is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Because multiple myeloma can affect the bones, kidneys, blood counts, nerves, and other parts of the body, speak with your oncologist, myeloma specialist, physical therapist, or other healthcare professional before beginning or changing an exercise program.
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