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EXERCISECan kidney patients exercise?Guidelines say: 150 minutes a week1KDIGO 2024 recommends that people with CKD domoderate-intensity physical activity for at least 150 minutesa week, or to a level their heart and body can tolerate.2What is "moderate"? You can talk but not sing (the CDC talktest): brisk walking, cycling, swimming and dancing all count.3It doesn't have to be in one go: 20–30 minutes a day, or three10-minute bouts, all count; simply sitting less has benefits ofits own (WHO).4Strength training on 2 or more days a week (resistance bands,squats, lifting water bottles) helps keep muscle — kidneypatients lose muscle unusually fast.5Light activity is fine on dialysis days (some units offercycling during dialysis). After transplant the kidney sits inthe lower abdomen — ask your team before contact sports. If youhave heart disease, high potassium or unstable blood pressure,check with your doctor first.Start today: a brisk 10-minute walk after a meal is a beginning. Ask your doctor:"Which type of exercise suits my condition best?"BBeyond CKDbeyondckd.com/en/cards/exercise-with-ckdSources: KDIGO 2024 CKD Guideline · WHO 2020 guidelines on physical activity and…Compiled from public clinical guidelines · General education, not individual medical advice
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Exercise

Can kidney patients exercise? Guidelines say: 150 minutes a week

"Weak kidneys, more rest" is outdated — KDIGO 2024 explicitly recommends regular physical activity.

  1. 1KDIGO 2024 recommends that people with CKD do moderate-intensity physical activity for at least 150 minutes a week, or to a level their heart and body can tolerate.
  2. 2What is "moderate"? You can talk but not sing (the CDC talk test): brisk walking, cycling, swimming and dancing all count.
  3. 3It doesn't have to be in one go: 20–30 minutes a day, or three 10-minute bouts, all count; simply sitting less has benefits of its own (WHO).
  4. 4Strength training on 2 or more days a week (resistance bands, squats, lifting water bottles) helps keep muscle — kidney patients lose muscle unusually fast.
  5. 5Light activity is fine on dialysis days (some units offer cycling during dialysis). After transplant the kidney sits in the lower abdomen — ask your team before contact sports. If you have heart disease, high potassium or unstable blood pressure, check with your doctor first.

Start today: a brisk 10-minute walk after a meal is a beginning. Ask your doctor: "Which type of exercise suits my condition best?"

Caption (ready to paste)

"Weak kidneys, more rest" is outdated — KDIGO 2024 explicitly recommends regular physical activity.

1. KDIGO 2024 recommends that people with CKD do moderate-intensity physical activity for at least 150 minutes a week, or to a level their heart and body can tolerate.
2. What is "moderate"? You can talk but not sing (the CDC talk test): brisk walking, cycling, swimming and dancing all count.
3. It doesn't have to be in one go: 20–30 minutes a day, or three 10-minute bouts, all count; simply sitting less has benefits of its own (WHO).
4. Strength training on 2 or more days a week (resistance bands, squats, lifting water bottles) helps keep muscle — kidney patients lose muscle unusually fast.
5. Light activity is fine on dialysis days (some units offer cycling during dialysis). After transplant the kidney sits in the lower abdomen — ask your team before contact sports. If you have heart disease, high potassium or unstable blood pressure, check with your doctor first.

Start today: a brisk 10-minute walk after a meal is a beginning. Ask your doctor: "Which type of exercise suits my condition best?"

Sources: KDIGO 2024 CKD Guideline — Kidney Int 2024;105(4S):S117–S314; WHO 2020 guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour — Br J Sports Med 2020;54:1451–1462; CDC — Measuring Physical Activity Intensity (talk test)
Verified: 2026-10-16

Cards and scripts are general health education compiled from public clinical guidelines. They are not individual medical advice and do not replace assessment by your doctor, pharmacist or dietitian. Please keep the sources and this notice when sharing; this page holds the latest version.
https://beyondckd.com/en/cards/exercise-with-ckd
60-second short-video script

Shot list and voice-over. Vertical 9:16; put captions in the lower third. Every line maps to the sources on the left.

secScreenVoice-over
0–5Patient on the sofa, someone saying "rest more"Weak kidneys, so rest more? That idea is out of date.
5–15"KDIGO 2024: ≥150 min/week moderate intensity"The KDIGO 2024 guideline clearly recommends at least one hundred and fifty minutes of moderate activity a week for people with kidney disease, or as much as you can tolerate.
15–25Brisk walker talking but unable to singWhat is moderate? You can talk, but you can't sing. Brisk walking, cycling, swimming, dancing all count.
25–34Clock split into 10 + 10 + 10It doesn't have to be in one go. Twenty or thirty minutes a day, or three ten-minute bouts. Sitting less helps by itself.
34–44Resistance band, squat, water bottles; "≥2 days/week"Strength training two or more days a week — bands, squats, lifting bottles — keeps your muscle. Kidney patients lose muscle unusually fast.
44–55Cycling during dialysis; transplant kidney location; "ask first"Light activity is fine on dialysis days — some units have bikes. After transplant the kidney sits low in the abdomen, so ask before contact sports. Heart disease, high potassium or unstable blood pressure? Check with your doctor first.
55–60Site logo + URL + QRStart today — a brisk ten-minute walk after a meal. More at Beyond CKD.

Sources (every point on the card maps to one)

Verified: 2026-10-16