Stop and get medical help
If you get chest pain or pressure, feel faint or dizzy, are unusually breathless, or your heart races or beats irregularly during exercise, as our plans advise. The American Heart Association says these need immediate medical evaluation.
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Call 999 (911 in the US)
For chest pain that comes on suddenly and doesn't go away, feels tight or like squeezing, spreads to your arms, neck, jaw, stomach or back, or comes with sweating, feeling sick, light-headedness or breathlessness; arm pain that comes on suddenly with pressure, heaviness or squeezing across your chest; severe difficulty breathing, or a chest that feels tight or heavy; someone who faints while exercising; palpitations that don't go away, or come with chest pain, shortness of breath or feeling faint; or a headache that starts suddenly and is extremely painful, especially while lifting or straining. The NHS says a bleed on the brain may be more likely when lifting something heavy. Don't drive yourself to A&E.
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A headache with effort
Ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111 for a headache that's triggered or made worse by coughing, sneezing, bending down or exercising.
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Your back: call 999 or go to A&E
Call 999 or go to A&E: loss of feeling or numbness around the genitals or bottom, new trouble peeing or controlling your bladder or bowels, changes in genital sensation during sex or problems with erections or orgasm, or pain, tingling, weakness or numbness in both legs. These are signs of cauda equina syndrome, which needs treating in hospital urgently. Don't drive yourself.
Call 999 or go to A&E: back pain with chest pain, or back pain that started after a serious accident, such as a car crash.
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Back pain that needs a GP soon
Ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111 if you have back pain and feel hot, cold, shivery or generally unwell, or have severe pain that starts suddenly or gets worse quickly.
See a GP if pain spreading down a leg hasn't improved after a few weeks of home treatment, is getting worse or stops your normal activities. Sciatica on both sides, or weakness or numbness in both legs that's severe or getting worse, is a 999 call or a trip to A&E.
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A hamstring injury
A sudden sharp pain at the back of the thigh, sometimes with a snap or pop, is how a strain starts: stop. Get help from NHS 111 if it's very painful or getting worse, has a large or growing amount of swelling or bruising, hurts to walk or stand on, feels very stiff or hard to move, isn't improving with self-care, or comes with a very high temperature or feeling hot and shivery.
A pop near the sitting bone, a large bruise high on the back of your thigh, or not being able to put weight on the leg: the tendon may have pulled away from the bone, as our hamstring guides explain.
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Your hip
Call 999 or go to A&E for severe hip pain after a fall or injury, if you can't walk or put weight on your leg, or for tingling or loss of feeling in your hip or leg after an injury. Ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111 for severe hip pain that started suddenly without a fall, a hip that's swollen and feels hot, skin around it that has changed colour, or hip pain with feeling generally unwell and a high temperature.
See a GP if hip pain stops you doing normal activities or affects your sleep, is getting worse or keeps coming back, hasn't improved after 2 weeks of treating it at home, or you have hip stiffness for more than 30 minutes after waking up.
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Pain on the outside of your hip
Outer hip pain that hasn't improved within 6 weeks of following our outer hip pain guide's advice, or that gets worse: talk to a GP or physiotherapist. In many areas you can refer yourself.
Your knee
Get advice from NHS 111 if your knee is very painful, you can't move it or put weight on it, it's badly swollen or has changed shape, or it locks, gives way or clicks painfully; painless clicking is normal. In the US, use urgent care. See a GP if knee pain doesn't improve within a few weeks.
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Sore, or hurt?
Muscle soreness for a day or two after a new or harder session is common and fades. Sharp pain, or pain that builds during a set or lingers into the next day, isn't: swap to an easier version, and see a clinician if it persists, as our plans advise. The NHS says to stop exercising straight away if you feel any pain or become unwell, and to get help from 111 if symptoms worry you or don't go away.
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Before you start
Speak to your GP first if you haven't exercised for some time or have medical conditions or concerns, as the NHS advises. Get advice before hard or straining work if your blood pressure is uncontrolled (140/90 or higher at a clinic, or 135/85 at home), or you have heart disease or chest pain when you're active, a pacemaker or defibrillator, diabetic eye disease, glaucoma, a hernia, recent eye or tummy surgery, or you're pregnant, as our breathing guide lists.
With controlled high blood pressure, the American Heart Association considers low- to moderate-intensity strength training with proper breathing safe. Breathe out as you lift, as our breathing guide advises.
With a pacemaker or defibrillator, the American Heart Association asks you to check with your doctor before upper-body strength training, because repeated arm movements can damage or dislodge the leads.
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