Upper Gastro-Intestinal (UGI) Pre-op clinic Pre-operative exercise advice

Where possible it is important to exercise prior to your surgery, to maintain and, if able, improve your fitness. This will optimise your physical fitness as much as possible prior to your operation and aid recovery.

Exercise can be completed in many forms and should be something you enjoy doing. For example, you could walk, cycle, dance, garden, hoover, jog or swim.

The NHS recommendation for weekly exercise is either of the following:

• 150 minutes moderate exercise
• This could be 30 minutes a day for five days or can be split into smaller more frequent sessions if required
• Moderate activity will raise your heart rate and make you breathe faster and feel warmer. One way to tell if you're working at a moderate level is if you can still talk, but you can't sing the words to a song.
• 75 minutes vigorous exercise
• This could be 15 minutes a day for five days or can be split into smaller more frequent sessions if required.
• Vigorous activity makes you breathe hard and fast. If you're working at this level, you won't be able to say more than a few words without pausing for breath.

Exercise advice

We have discussed the following exercise for you to aim to complete prior to your surgery.

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If any of these exercises cause pain or make you feel unwell, please stop them and consult your GP if this does not settle.