Exercise

EXERCISE INFORMATION LEAFLET DOWNLOAD

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Exercise is key to maintaining good physical and mental wellbeing. Some of the benefits include:

 

 

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Why exercise?

• Having an operation has the same effect on your body as exercising; as it increases your heart rate and the amount of blood your heart pumps around your circulation. This is because your body needs more oxygen to recover in the early days after surgery.
• The heart, lungs and circulation of people with higher levels of physical fitness are able to meet this extra requirement for oxygen more easily, meaning their bodies can more easily cope with the stress of surgery.
• It is possible to ‘train’ your body for surgery in the same way an athlete would train to do any form of sporting event. Preparation will mean you can improve your fitness, even a little, which will enable you to experience a lower risk of complications and smoother recovery.
• Significant improvements in your fitness can be made within as little as 2-4 weeks if you stick to the task and perform the exercises we set you regularly.

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Where do I start?

The NHS suggests that adults should aim to:

• Be active every day – examples are taking the stairs not the lift, getting off the bus a stop early, having a regular walk in your day.
• Build your activity up step by step, the key here is any physical activity and exercise is better than none. Start slow and increase your activity over time. The PREPWELL team can guide you through this process to help you meet your goals during your time in the programme.
• Your goal should be to work towards 150 minutes or more of moderate intensity activity (e.g. brisk walk, dancing, gentle swim) a week, or 75 minutes of high intensity (e.g. jogging, swimming, cycling) activity a week, or a combination of the two.
• Do strengthening activity 2 days a week (e.g. light weights, resistance bands or using your own body as resistance).
• Reduce time sitting or lying down

Remember to be realistic about your goals and exercise safely.

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Where can I get help?

• The Prepwell team will help you assess your exercise and activity levels and then we can help to make you a safe exercise plan suitable to your needs. This can be achieved in a variety of ways as we offer home exercises you can do yourself, home based interactive classes and face to face classes.
• We also have a library of exercise videos, which you can access to guide you.
• Your GP may be able to refer you to exercise schemes at your local gym.
• There are many smartphone applications that can help you by providing guidance to improve your activity levels. One example is NHS EXi – prescribe (available free through the App store). It helps pick exercises based on your fitness and any medical conditions you have and is NHS endorsed.

Your local council (https://www.middlesbrough.gov.uk/leisure-events-libraries-and-hubs/sport-and-physical-activities) may be offering free services to encourage activity so check their websites for any such promotions.

EXERCISE INFORMATION LEAFLET DOWNLOAD

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