Exercise guides
Exercise for every stage of life
The same guidelines apply to almost everyone: move more, sit less, and strengthen your muscles at least twice a week. What changes with age, pregnancy, the menopause, a long-term condition or your mood is the detail: what to favour, what to modify, what to expect, and which signs mean stop. Each guide grades what the research supports and shows every move as a 3D demo.
The guides
Exercise for older adults: strength, balance and staying steady
Exercises for seniors from WHO and NHS guidance and falls trials: how much you need, balance and chair exercises, getting up off the floor, and when to stop.
OsteoporosisExercise for osteoporosis and osteopenia: strong, steady and straight
Exercise for osteoporosis and osteopenia from the UK consensus and trials: strength and impact for bone, balance, back exercises, and the moves to avoid.
PregnancyExercise in pregnancy: what's safe, how much, and what to avoid
How much exercise to do in pregnancy, safe moves for each trimester with 3D demos, what to avoid, warning signs to stop, and the evidence behind the advice.
After giving birthExercise after giving birth: when to start and how to build back up
When to start exercising after a vaginal birth or C-section, pelvic floor and tummy exercises, when to run again, breastfeeding, and warning signs to stop.
MenopauseExercise for menopause and perimenopause: what helps, what doesn't
Exercise for menopause and perimenopause: what it does for muscle, bone, belly fat, mood and hot flushes, honestly graded, with 3D demos and a free plan.
High blood pressureExercise for high blood pressure: what lowers it, how much, and what's safe
Walking, strength training and wall sits all lower blood pressure. How much each helps, how much to do, what to avoid and when to stop, with 3D demos.
Weight lossExercise for weight loss: what it can do, how much, and what works best
How much weight exercise really takes off, how much to do, cardio or weights, belly fat, and keeping muscle on weight loss jabs, with 3D demos and plans.
Type 2 diabetesExercise for type 2 diabetes and prediabetes: what lowers blood sugar, and how to stay safe
Walking, strength training and a walk after meals lower blood sugar in type 2 diabetes. How much to do, staying safe with hypos, feet and eyes, with 3D demos.
DepressionExercise for depression: what helps, how much, and how to start
Exercise for depression: what the best trials show, which types and how much help, how to start when motivation is low, and when to get help. With 3D demos.
AnxietyExercise for anxiety and panic attacks: what helps and how to start
Exercise for anxiety and panic: how much it helps, the best types, what a racing heart means, honest breathing exercises and when to get help. With 3D demos.
More guides
Exercises for pain
Back, neck, shoulder, elbow, wrist, hip, knee and foot pain: when to get help, and a staged plan.
Workout plansWeekly workout plans
Plans for 2 to 7 days a week, for beginners, women, men, and people over 40 and 50.
Muscle guidesThe muscles, one by one
Where each muscle is, what it does, and how to train and stretch it.
Questions people ask
How much exercise do older adults need?
The UK Chief Medical Officers advise some activity every day, 150 minutes of moderate activity a week, strength, balance and flexibility work on at least 2 days, and breaking up long spells of sitting. WHO asks for balance and strength work on 3 or more days a week. Starting late still helps: people in their 80s and 90s gain strength from training.
Is it safe to exercise in pregnancy?
In a pregnancy without complications, yes: the NHS, WHO and ACOG recommend at least 150 minutes of moderate activity a week, plus strength work. Talk to your midwife or GP first if you have a complication, and stop for bleeding, fluid leaking, regular painful contractions, chest pain, dizziness, or calf pain or swelling.
Can exercise reverse osteoporosis?
Not on its own. Combined programmes add a little bone density, about 3% at the spine in a Cochrane review, and exercise cuts falls, which is how it helps prevent fractures. It works alongside bone medicines, not instead of them.
What is the best exercise to lower blood pressure?
All the main types work. In a review of 270 trials, aerobic, strength and combined training each lowered systolic pressure by about 4 to 6 mmHg on average, and isometric holds such as the wall sit by about 8. The drop is bigger when blood pressure is higher. Don't stop or change your medicines on your own.
Does exercise help with menopause symptoms?
It helps keep muscle, bone, heart health and mood, which matters more after the menopause. It mostly doesn't reduce hot flushes: HRT and CBT have the evidence for those, so talk to your GP.
Can exercise alone make you lose weight?
Only modestly: about 2 to 3 kg on average, and roughly 0.5 kg for each extra 30 minutes a week in a 2024 analysis of 116 trials, partly because the body makes up some of the energy used. Where exercise shines is keeping weight off, trimming the waist and deep belly fat, and keeping muscle while you lose weight.
Does exercise help depression and anxiety?
Yes. In the 2026 Cochrane review, exercise eased depression by a moderate amount, about as much as therapy or antidepressants where trials compared them, though less in the best-run trials. The benefit for anxiety is smaller. Exercise works alongside treatment, so don't stop medicines on your own, and get help straight away if you feel unsafe.
Exercise education, not a diagnosis or treatment plan, and clinical review of these guides is pending. Get urgent help for chest pain, sudden breathlessness, fainting, or bleeding or fluid loss in pregnancy. Health disclaimer.