This study investigates the impact of postoperative exercise training on lung cancer patients who also have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Eighty-four patients were divided into an exercise group and a control group. Both groups received standard postoperative care, but the exercise group also participated in 24 exercise training sessions. The findings revealed that, although both groups experienced a decrease in functional status and pulmonary function from baseline, the exercise group showed significant improvements in maximal oxygen consumption (15.5 vs 13.1 mL/kg/min, P = 0.016) and walking distance in the 6-minute walk test (437.4 vs 381.7 m, P = 0.040) compared to the control group. While improvements in force vital capacity and forced expiratory volume were observed in the exercise group, these were not statistically significant. The study highlights the benefits of postoperative exercise training in enhancing functional recovery for lung cancer patients with COPD, marking an important contribution to the literature on postoperative rehabilitation in this patient population.