I finally got in to rehab a couple of years ago but couldn't use the treadmill. It was too exhausting. So I used the Nustep (recumbent stepper) starting at level 6 for 5 minutes. A few weeks later I got back on the treadmill and worked my way up to 20 minutes at 2 mph with 2 liters. Today I work out with 20 pound dumbells and do 20 min on the Nustep I bought at level 10 with no oxygen. I use oxygen a lot less than before and breathe much better. I did just sit on the couch a lot (broke 2 springs loose) and stayed hooked to oxygen all day. Now I get up, cook all meals, weed eat, work on my bikes, detail my truck, trim the trees and all kinds of yard work. I only use the oxygen occasionally. I can't go as fast as I used to but I get it done and enjoy doin it. Stay active and most importantly exercise so you can.

Response to the sit-up exercise question may be because the increased pressure on your diaphragm makes it harder for your lungs to expand when you breathe in. This can make you breathless. Personally where I lose breath the quickest is bending..which again puts pressure on your lungs.

Hey there everyone!
I work in a flooring department at a blue box store 40 hours a week. I lift 70 pound boxes of tile and 40 pounders as well. I walk all day at work. I breathe at a little over 55% with my meds. Just got done with pushups and sit-ups. I have been diagnosed with copd and asthma since 2004. When I have the energy I go to the gym for a weight machine cycle of 30 minutes. I can’t effectively do aerobics or long (5 minutes) strenuous work without my inhaler. But I push through as I can. We all have different responses to efforts of all kinds. Keep your body as active as possible. I went through some times of depressive inactivity but all I got was poor physical and mental health. Yes I have yearly or bi-yearly exacerbations but oh well 😔!
Do the best you can with what you have. Only bad activity is no activity.
Godspeed Kevin

Back here again reading old posts. I hope the op is doing well and understands how to use the meds now. When I am prescribed new meds, I not only want thorough understanding of how to use them but I also ask a lot of why questions to get a fuller understanding. Most doctors I know don't mind giving you detailed info so you can use your meds to your best benefit. Another thing (just a reminder) don't trust everything you read no matter how credible the source appears, especially online. I feel better doing extensive research and using advise from trusted knowledgeable physicians. Of course I tend to trust many of the people on this forum because I know if someone makes a mistake there will be others to quickly clarify the statement appropriately with the purpose of offering help to others. I've learned a lot from this group and appreciate it very much.

Your daily inhalers are maintenance meds and intended to help you maintain your current lung function as long as possible: things like Advair, Symbicort, Spiriva, Tudorza, etc. The rescue inhaler, assuming that you were given one, can be used as needed. Anything that is taken daily will definitely help. How were you diagnosed? Have you had a spirometry test or a Pulmonary Function Test or anything that was called a breathing test? If you did something where you blew into a tube and they told you to blow, blow, blow until you thought your toes would pop out next; that what I'm talking about. If you didn't have one of those tests, did you have a CT scan? If you've had neither, I would ask for a referral to a pulmonologist for a full diagnostic workup. All due respect to PCPs, many don't have the first idea of what to do with COPD, many of them mis-diagnose and have no idea what the appropriate meds really are.

As for the avoidance of situps, etc. people who have very advanced COPD often can't do them because they can't lie on their backs and breathe at the same time or be on their stomachs and breathe, so a situp or pushup is really difficult, if not impossible. I'm 73, I'm in the severe stage by the numbers (about a third the lung function of most people my age), I use O2 for exercise, I've been exercising daily since 2003, and I do situps all the time. I don't do pushups because I do other things for upper and core muscle groups, including planks on both sides. So it you ordinarily would do those things in an exercise routine and they aren't a problem, there's no reason why you shouldn't continue.

That said, one of the best things you can do for yourself if you have COPD is begin a daily exercise routine, so see your doc, make sure there's no reason for you not to exercise and get started. Start slowly and work up. Many of us join gyms and exercise with the rest of the world, O2 and all. Aerobic exercise is essential because it makes you breathe deeper and gets everything moving and strengthening exercises are necessary to keep doing everything you do now.