10 Safe Exercise and Recovery Tips

Regular physical activity protects your heart, muscles, bones and mood, and helps you recover from injury. These tips from the Top Pro Rehab physiotherapy team are based on World Health Organization guidance and sports medicine research.

Tip 41: Adults should aim for 150 to 300 minutes of moderate activity a week, such as brisk walking, plus muscle-strengthening exercise on at least two days.

Tip 42: Some activity is better than none. If you are just starting, begin with 10 minutes a day and build up gradually.

Tip 43: Warm up for 5 to 10 minutes before exercise with easy walking and gentle movements.

Tip 44: Increase how long or how hard you exercise gradually, week by week, rather than all at once.

Tip 45: In hot weather, exercise in the early morning or evening, drink water regularly, and stop if you feel dizzy, sick or very tired.

Tip 46: Aim for 7 to 9 hours of sleep a night. Good sleep helps your body recover and repair.

Tip 47: Break up long periods of sitting. Stand up and move for a few minutes every 30 minutes.

Tip 48: Do your home exercise programme regularly. Doing it consistently matters more than doing it hard.

Tip 49: Muscle soreness for a day or two after new exercise is normal. Sharp pain, or pain that keeps getting worse, is not, so stop and seek advice.

Tip 50: Stop exercising and seek urgent medical help if you have chest pain, severe breathlessness, a racing or irregular heartbeat, or you feel faint.

These tips are general information and do not replace a personal assessment. If you have a heart condition or another health problem, check with your doctor before starting a new exercise programme. For home physiotherapy in Tirupati and Venkatagiri, call Top Pro Rehab on +91 99852 60621.

Sources: WHO guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour (2020); American College of Sports Medicine, Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription.