Physical Activity, Asthma and Exercise
In the general asthma population, exercise training programmes are safe, and have a positive effect on asthma control, health-related quality of life and cardiopulmonary fitness (Hansen et al. 2020, Valkenborghs et al. 2022)Additionally, higher engagement in physical activity has been positively associated with lung function, disease control, health status and health care use . The Asthma Handbook promotes physical activity engagement for people with asthma. Despite this, adults with asthma have decreased levels of physical activity compared to the general population (Van’t Hul et al. 2016, Hansen et al. 2025, Cordova-Rivera et al. 2019)which may be attributed to common factors such as time, motivation and also asthma specific factors such as fear of provoking asthma symptoms.
In people with severe asthma, reduced activity is even more pronounced than in less severe forms of the disease (Cordova-Rivera et al. 2017), likely due to poor symptom control, breathlessness and impaired physical capacity . This avoidance of activity is likely to result in deconditioning and poor health status. Nevertheless, in people with severe asthma, physical activity based interventions have been shown to have a positive effect on steps per day and asthma symptoms (McLoughlin et al. 2022).
Despite the need for further research to establish exercise and physical activity recommendations for people with severe asthma, promoting active lifestyle can be seen as an adjunct non-pharmacological strategy for the management of the disease. The intensity and type of activity should be discussed with the medical team, and medications should be integrated to prevent exercise-induced bronchoconstriction. In 2025 EACCI published a position paper for Exercise Recommendations and Practical Considerations for Asthma Management (Price et al. 2025).
