Exercise guide
Most people have their gallbladder removed by keyhole surgery (a laparoscopic cholecystectomy) and go home the same day. You can start moving straight away: the National Health Service (NHS) says start doing some light activity, build up gradually and avoid strenuous exercise. Full recovery takes around 10 days after keyhole surgery and about 6 weeks after open surgery.
Advice on when to lift and go back to sport varies between hospitals, from 2 to 4 weeks after keyhole surgery, and surveys show it rests mostly on surgeons' experience rather than on trials. Your surgical team's advice comes first.
This guide covers the first 2 weeks day by day, lifting, gentle core exercises and when to add sit-ups, getting back to the gym, running, swimming and sport, hernias at the cuts, being active before your operation, and the warning signs that need urgent help.
Get up, get dressed and move around the house in the first couple of days. The Royal College of Surgeons suggests short walks of 5 to 10 minutes from about day 3, a little longer each day. Walking also lowers the risk of blood clots.
NHS inform, the NHS website for Scotland, says full recovery takes around 10 days after keyhole surgery and about 6 weeks after open surgery. The NHS says most people go back to work after 1 to 2 weeks, or later with a job that involves heavy lifting.
NHS hospitals advise no heavy lifting or vigorous exercise for at least 2 weeks after keyhole surgery, and some say 4 weeks for heavy lifting. Then start light, breathe out as you lift and build up.
Gentle tummy exercises can start the day after surgery. An NHS physiotherapy booklet strongly advises against sit-ups while the tummy wall heals.
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The Royal College of Surgeons says walking, swimming, cycling and light exercise are allowed from about a week if the wound is comfortable. A German expert proposal suggests weights and ball sports from 2 weeks after keyhole surgery and 4 weeks after open surgery.
In large studies, 0.2% to 2.1% of people needed a hernia repair at one of the cuts, most often at the belly button. See a general practitioner (GP) if you notice a bulge near a scar.
The gallbladder is a small organ in the top part of your tummy that stores bile, a fluid that helps you digest food. Gallstones are very common: NHS inform says more than 1 in 10 adults in the UK have them, and most never get symptoms. When a stone blocks a tube, it can cause severe, constant tummy pain lasting more than 30 minutes, called biliary colic.
Most people have keyhole surgery: 3 or 4 small cuts, one near your belly button and the others on the right of your tummy, with gas pumped in to give the surgeon room. It takes about 60 to 90 minutes, and most people go home the same day. Open surgery uses one larger cut under the ribs, with up to 5 days in hospital, and is used if the gallbladder is very inflamed or keyhole surgery isn't possible. About 1 in 100 keyhole operations become open ones.
Full recovery takes around 10 days after keyhole surgery and about 6 weeks after open surgery. Your wounds will be painful for a few days. Pain in the tip of your shoulder from the gas is common for 2 to 3 days and eases as you move about, and changes in your bowel habits usually settle within weeks to a few months.
The NHS says you can live without a gallbladder and continue to eat a normal, healthy diet. Some people get bloating or diarrhoea after fatty or spicy food for a while. Feeling sick, indigestion, tummy pain or diarrhoea after the operation usually improve soon; tell your GP or care team if they don't.
In a Cochrane review of 38 trials with 2,338 people, most at high risk of bias, keyhole surgery shortened the hospital stay by about 3 days and the time to recover by about 22 days compared with open surgery.
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In 200 people advised to take just 2 days off after keyhole gallbladder removal, half were back to their usual recreation within 2 days and back at work within 6. In 24 people, activity, tiredness and pain were back to normal by day 2, and their performance on a treadmill was unchanged at days 2 and 8. The researchers found that pain, tiredness and expectations, rather than the operation itself, drove longer recoveries.
A review of studies after tummy and chest operations concluded that bed rest is harmful, though the studies of early-mobilisation programmes were few and of poor quality. The NHS says staying active and walking lowers the risk of blood clots, which can still form weeks after an operation.
In 20 healthy adults, jumping and coughing produced by far the highest pressures inside the tummy, while lifting a 10-pound (4.5 kg) weight raised it only a little above standing. In 30 women, many activities people are often told to avoid after surgery, including lifting up to 20 pounds (9 kg) from a counter, climbing stairs, brisk walking and crunches, raised the pressure no more than getting up from a chair; lifting 35 pounds (16 kg) from the floor raised it most, and how the lift was done made a difference. Bearing down and holding your breath doubles the pressure. Neither study looked at hernias themselves.
In a German survey of 386 hospitals, advice to avoid exertion after keyhole surgery ranged from none to 12 weeks, and 78% of hospitals based it on personal experience. Across a German and an international survey, 3 in 4 of 401 surgeons advised 2 weeks or less of reduced activity after keyhole surgery, and fewer than 1 in 10 said their advice was based on scientific evidence.
A Dutch panel of 13 experts suggested lifting or carrying 5 kg from 2 to 4 days after keyhole gallbladder removal, and 15 kg from 1 to 2 weeks. A German review of 16 low-quality studies found no evidence for any particular weight limit.
In 200 people having their gallbladder removed, those who were regularly active beforehand were more likely to be back at work within 3 weeks (a relative chance of 1.26) and to leave hospital within a day. It was an observational study, so it can't show that activity caused the quicker recovery.
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Across 8 cohort studies of 218,204 people, the most active had 25% less gallbladder disease than the least active (a relative risk of 0.75). Another review of 16 studies found a smaller link (0.85), with results that varied a lot between studies. These are observational links, not trials.
Our wording of the Royal College of Surgeons' recovery tracker for keyhole gallbladder removal and an NHS physiotherapy booklet for after tummy surgery (York and Scarborough). If something hurts, you've probably overdone it a little: ease back, then build up again. After open surgery, build up more slowly. Your own team's advice comes first.
See the movement on the 3D figure: Treadmill walking
From an NHS physiotherapy booklet for after tummy surgery (York and Scarborough). Lying down in reverse is our wording of the same idea.
See the movement on the 3D figure: Lateral breathing (Pilates breathing)
From the day of your operation: a cycle of 5 deep breaths 3 to 4 times an hour, and ankle circles and pumps for 30 seconds every hour while you're resting a lot, as an NHS physiotherapy booklet advises. The lateral breathing page's dose, 5 to 8 breaths at the start of every session, is for when you're back to exercising.
Lying on your back with your knees bent: 3 to 5 repetitions, holding each for 5 to 10 seconds, twice a day, as an NHS physiotherapy booklet advises. Tilt your pelvis without lifting into a bridge, keep the knee rolls small, and leave out sit-ups and crunches while your tummy heals.
Usually from about 1 to 2 weeks after keyhole surgery, and later after open surgery (our editorial order). The heel slide page's dose is 10 slow repetitions each side, once or twice a day, and the bent-knee fall-out and knee fold pages' is 2 sets of 5 to 10 each side, every other day. Add planks once bracing feels comfortable, usually from about 2 weeks (our suggestion), and sit-ups last.
3D demoSupine heel slideBeginner · No equipment
3D demoBent-knee fall-outBeginner · No equipment
3D demoKnee foldBeginner · No equipment
3D demoGlute bridgeBeginner · No equipment
3D demoDead bug heel tapsBeginner · No equipment
3D demoBird dog, one limb at a timeBeginner · No equipment
3D demoKnee plankBeginner · No equipment
3D demoHalf-kneeling Pallof pressBeginner · A band + An anchor pointAfter keyhole gallbladder removal, follow the leaflet your hospital gives you. Others say:
Breathe out as you lift, and don't hold your breath and strain: bearing down doubles the pressure inside your tummy, while lifting a light weight smoothly adds little. Keep the load close to you and bend your knees (our suggestion). The NHS physiotherapy booklet adds a simple rule: if lifting something hurts, don't do it.
After a larger cut, the booklet advises lifting nothing heavier than 2 to 3 kg, about a full kettle, at first. A German review says the tummy wall regains its normal strength about 4 weeks after an open operation that heals normally.
Walk from day 3: no more than 5 to 10 minutes at first, a little longer each day (Royal College of Surgeons). From about a week, if your wound is comfortable, the recumbent bike and elliptical trainer pages' dose fits: 10 to 20 minutes at a moderate effort, building towards 30. Swim once your wounds have healed, and try run-walk intervals from about 2 weeks (our suggestion).
3D demoTreadmill walkingBeginner · Cardio machine
3D demoStationary cyclingBeginner · Cardio machine
3D demoRecumbent exercise bikeBeginner · Cardio machine
3D demoElliptical trainerBeginner · Cardio machine
Front crawl (freestyle swimming)Intermediate · Other / check instructions
3D demoTreadmill joggingIntermediate · Cardio machineIn the first days: small squats and rising onto your toes, 10 of each, holding a support (the NHS physiotherapy booklet). From about 2 weeks after keyhole surgery, if your team agrees: 2 sets of 10 to 12 with light weights, well below what you lifted before, breathing out on the effort (our editorial starting point).
3D demoSit to stand from a chairBeginner · A bench or box
3D demoSit squat (partial squat)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoSlow calf raiseBeginner · A wall
3D demoWall push-upBeginner · A wall
3D demoBand rowBeginner · A band + An anchor point
3D demoHip-hinge practiceBeginner · No equipment
3D demoDumbbell goblet squatIntermediate · A dumbbell
3D demoKettlebell deadliftBeginner · A kettlebell
3D demoSuitcase carryIntermediate · A dumbbell + A kettlebellAfter reviewing the evidence, which was all low quality, German surgeons proposed these timings for wounds that heal normally, adjusted to your pain:
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NHS leaflets are a little more cautious: most say no heavy lifting or vigorous exercise for at least 2 weeks after keyhole surgery, one says 4 weeks for heavy lifting, and one says no swimming or baths for 2 weeks. The Royal College of Surgeons allows walking, swimming, cycling and light exercise from about a week if your wound is comfortable.
Leave sit-ups, crunches and hanging leg raises until gentler core work feels easy, usually from about 4 weeks after keyhole surgery and later after open surgery (our suggestion). After open surgery, the NHS physiotherapy booklet suggests a yoga or Pilates class to build the core further, after about 2 to 3 months.
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Build back towards the usual NHS guidelines: 150 minutes of moderate activity a week, such as brisk walking, plus strength exercises on 2 days.
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Start with our exercises after gallbladder or appendix removal for the first 2 weeks. Then move on to the 10-minute starter workout and the beginner core workout. After open surgery, the core exercises after bowel surgery routine uses the same NHS doses with a second level; skip its stoma tips if you don't have a stoma.
A gentle 15-minute routine for the first 2 weeks after keyhole gallbladder or appendix removal: breathing, gentle tummy exercises, chair and standing moves and a walk.
15 minBeginner12 movesA bench or box, Something with weightA 10-minute session for low-energy days: marching, sit-to-stands, wall push-ups, step-ups and bridges, then a short walk. Doing a little counts.
10 minBeginner7 movesA bench or box, A wallA gentle 20-minute core routine for the weeks after bowel or stoma surgery: breathing, tummy and pelvic floor work lying down, then chair and standing moves.
20 minBeginner14 movesA bench or box, A wallA 15-minute beginner core workout on the floor: dead bugs, bird dogs, knee planks, side planks and curl-ups.
15 minBeginner6 movesNo equipmentA steady 30 to 45 minute cardio session at talk-but-not-sing pace: walk, cycle, row or cross-train, counting toward weekly activity guidelines.
40 minBeginner3 movesCardio machine, A wallA 30 to 45-minute beginner pool swim: a shoulder warm-up on the side, easy lengths, a main set of repeats with rests, and an easy swim down, any stroke.
35 minBeginner5 movesOther / check instructionsA 30-minute beginner run-walk session: a brisk walk, then 1-minute jogs with 1-minute walks, building to 3-minute runs over your first three weeks.
30 minBeginner5 movesCardio machine, A wallThe walking plan builds up to 150 minutes a week.
A hernia can form at one of the cuts, most often the one at the belly button. In large studies, 0.2% to 2.1% of people needed a repair: 0.2% of 2,930 people, about 1% of 1,172 people followed for about 5 years, and 2.1% of 1,756 people, rising to 3.2% when the gallbladder was taken out through the belly-button cut. When every patient was examined and scanned about 4 years later, 25.9% of 241 people had one at the belly-button cut. Obesity, diabetes, a long operation, a cut that had to be enlarged and a wound infection raise the risk.
More than half of incisional hernias appear 18 months or more after surgery. The view that lifting early doesn't cause them comes from reviews of low-quality studies, so no one can say for certain, and following your team's lifting advice for the first weeks still makes sense.
A hernia at a cut feels like a soft lump or bulge near a scar, often easier to see when you cough or strain. See a GP if you notice one. Our hernia guide lists the signs that need 999, such as very bad tummy pain that doesn't go away, or not being able to poo or fart.
The NHS physiotherapy booklet suggests about 30 minutes of exercise a day before a tummy operation, such as brisk walking, swimming or cycling, split into shorter bouts if you need to. People who were regularly active before gallbladder surgery were more likely to be back at work within 3 weeks.
Gallstone pain is sometimes set off by fatty food, but it can come at any time. While you wait, the NHS says you may be advised to eat a low-fat diet and to avoid foods that cause symptoms. Ask for an urgent GP appointment or call NHS 111 for tummy pain that lasts longer than 30 minutes. We found no study of exercise bringing on a gallbladder attack.
Small meals may be easier for the first few days. If fatty or spicy food gives you bloating or diarrhoea for a while, keep harder sessions away from big meals (our suggestion).
If you need your gallbladder removed late in pregnancy, it may be done as open surgery. Your surgical and maternity teams will guide you, and our pregnancy guide's advice on lying on your back applies to the floor exercises.
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Recovery can take a little longer. The NHS physiotherapy booklet's chair exercises (marching, straightening your knees and lifting your heels and toes) suit anyone less steady on their feet, before the standing ones.
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Full recovery takes about 6 weeks. The NHS physiotherapy booklet suggests walking every day, building up to 30 minutes a day by 2 to 3 months, before moderate exercise such as swimming or cycling. A German expert proposal suggests sport and weights from about 4 weeks if the wound heals normally, so ask your team which applies to you.
This is general information, not a diagnosis. In the US, call 911 where this page says 999.
The NHS says get help if:
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Call 999 or go to accident and emergency (A&E) if you have pain and swelling in your leg and you're having difficulty breathing or chest pains: this could be a blood clot in your lungs. Call 999 for chest pain that feels tight or spreads to your arms, neck or jaw. Don't drive yourself to A&E.
Get urgent help for severe or worsening tummy pain, a lot of vomiting or a swollen tummy, a high temperature with chills, or a painful, red, swollen, hot leg.
If feeling sick, indigestion, tummy pain or diarrhoea carry on after the operation.
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The Royal College of Surgeons says that if you feel pain as you build up, you have probably just overdone it a little: ease back, then build up gradually again. Stop if a wound pulls sharply or a bulge appears when you strain, and get advice if it doesn't settle.
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Walking, swimming, cycling and light exercise are usually fine from about a week if your wound is comfortable, and full recovery takes around 10 days. People told to expect a quick recovery were back to their usual recreation within days.
Bed rest is harmful after an operation, and walking lowers the risk of blood clots. Get up and move about from the first day.
Coughing and jumping raise the pressure inside your tummy far more than lifting a light weight smoothly. Hernias at the cuts are uncommon, and obesity, diabetes and wound infections raise the risk; whether early lifting adds to it hasn't been properly tested. Follow your team's lifting advice for the first weeks.
An NHS physiotherapy booklet strongly advises against sit-ups while the tummy wall heals, because they put too much pressure on it. Start with gentle deep tummy exercises instead.
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The NHS says you can live without a gallbladder and eat a normal, healthy diet, though some people find fatty or spicy food upsets them for a while. Nothing in the guidance limits exercise once you've recovered.
Pain in the tip of your shoulder from the gas used in the operation is common for a few days and eases as you move about. Severe or worsening pain that doesn't go away needs an urgent GP appointment or NHS 111.
Start moving straight away: get up and walk around the house in the first days, and take short walks of 5 to 10 minutes from about day 3. The Royal College of Surgeons says walking, swimming, cycling and light exercise are fine from about a week if your wound is comfortable. Most NHS hospitals say avoid heavy lifting and vigorous exercise for at least 2 weeks after keyhole surgery.
The same day or the next: get up, get dressed and move around the house. From about day 3, take a short walk of no more than 5 to 10 minutes in the morning and another one or two later, a little longer each day. Walking also lowers the risk of blood clots.
Follow your surgical team, because advice varies. Many NHS hospitals say no heavy lifting for at least 2 weeks after keyhole surgery and some say 4, while an expert panel suggests lifting about 5 kg after a few days and 15 kg after 1 to 2 weeks. Start with light weights, breathe out as you lift, and build up gradually.
After keyhole surgery, gentle cardio such as an exercise bike or cross-trainer is usually fine from about a week, and weights from about 2 weeks if your team agrees and your wounds are comfortable. After open surgery, allow about 4 to 6 weeks. Start lighter than before and build up over a few weeks.
Leave out sit-ups and crunches while your tummy heals, but gentle deep tummy exercises, pelvic tilts and knee rolls can start the day after surgery. Move on to planks and other core exercises when they feel comfortable, usually after a couple of weeks after keyhole surgery, and add sit-ups back last.
Walk first, then try walk-run intervals once walking feels easy and your wounds are comfortable, often from about 2 weeks after keyhole surgery. A German expert proposal suggests endurance sport from 1 week after keyhole surgery and 4 weeks after open surgery. If a run makes the wounds hurt, drop back for a few days.
Once your wounds have healed: one NHS hospital says no swimming or baths for 2 weeks. The Royal College of Surgeons says swimming is fine from about a week if your wound is comfortable, so check your wounds and your own leaflet.
Keyhole surgery uses gas to give the surgeon room inside your tummy, and it can cause pain in the tip of your shoulder for a few days. Moving about helps it settle. Severe or worsening pain that doesn't go away needs an urgent GP appointment or NHS 111.
A hernia at a keyhole cut, usually at the belly button, is uncommon: between 0.2% and 2.1% of people needed a repair in large studies. The risk is higher with obesity, diabetes or a wound infection, and whether lifting early adds to it hasn't been properly tested. Lifting a light weight smoothly raises the pressure in your tummy less than coughing does, but follow your team's lifting advice for the first weeks.
Yes, if you feel well: an NHS physiotherapy booklet suggests about 30 minutes a day before an operation, such as brisk walking, swimming or cycling. People who were regularly active before gallbladder surgery were more likely to be back at work within 3 weeks. Tummy pain that lasts longer than 30 minutes needs an urgent GP appointment or NHS 111.
Yes. The NHS says you can live without a gallbladder and eat a normal, healthy diet. Some people get bloating or diarrhoea after fatty or spicy food for a while, so keep harder sessions away from big meals if that happens to you.
Ask for an urgent GP appointment or call NHS 111 for severe or worsening pain, pus or redness around a wound, yellow skin or eyes, a painful swollen leg, or a very high temperature. Call 999 if you have a painful, swollen leg with difficulty breathing or chest pain.
Exercise education, not a diagnosis or treatment plan, and clinical review of these guides is pending. Stop and get advice for chest pain, unusual breathlessness, dizziness or fainting, or new pain, and check with your doctor or midwife first if they have told you to limit activity. Health disclaimer.
