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Physical activity

Life Leisure run an exercise class for people living with long COVID. You can get details of the classes on our webpage.

Here are Life Leisure's advice and tips on how to exercise safely or build more physical activity into your day:

  • Remember that everybody’s long COVID journey is different, with different symptoms and energy levels. Don’t compare yourself to others, what is simple for one person may be really hard for someone else
  • You’ll have ups and downs where you can do an activity one day but not the next or you’ll feel exhausted. Try to keep a record of what you do and how you felt after the activity on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is comfortable and 10 is exhausted. This will help you to see how you’re improving over time
  • Start off small, maybe just walk round your house or garden
  • Be patient, don’t do too much too quickly, less is often more. If you do too much too quickly you might feel exhausted and then think that you can’t do it
  • If you’re sitting a lot, try to get your joints moving or everything will just get tighter. Simple movements like shoulder rolls and shrugging your shoulders can help to loosen muscles
  • Take into account all the other aspects of life. You may be looking after children, grandchildren or working. Doing extra physical activity on top of this may be just too much
  • Anything you do will make a difference, even if it’s only 1 or 2 repetitions of an exercise or walking around your room. It may not seem much at the time but it all builds up
  • Keep listening to your body, only you know how you’re feeling

Additional information

Asthma and Lung UK

Asthma and Lung UK provide information and guidance to support you if you are feeling breathless. Their stay active, stay well exercise videos give you everything you need to start exercising and include how to warm up before you start and cool down at the end. The programme includes exercises at 3 levels depending on how breathless you feel. You can view the exercise videos on the Asthma and Lung UK website.

Moving Medicine

The Moving Medicine website includes tips and resources to help you move more and find the right balance between rest and activity. You can visit the Moving Medicine website for more information.