Improving health and fitness

Each section contains some background information to help you get started with different types of exercise. It describes what the origins of the exercises are, and suggests the benefits you can expect as you become more skilled at doing them.

You may find that you start with one particular exercise choice such as Tai Chi. We then invite you to try some of the others to enhance your performance. If you’re bored, your body’s bored! So mixing up the exercises is a good way to help you to stay motivated, to keep your body challenged so that it changes, and to help you to keep enjoying what you are doing.

If you have been following these exercises for a while, you may wish to set yourself new goals and take on new challenges. Please follow the web links to find other exercises and activities that are happening in your local community.

There are handouts to accompany each section, which you can print off to make it easier to complete your exercise practice at home. Some sections are more interactive than others, and we are in the process of developing more video clips to improve your exercise experience with us. Please feel free to post your comments about this section of the ReConnect2Life website. We are keen to hear your views and we are working hard to make sure that exercising with pain doesn’t have to be a chore.

Have a go, start simple, get motivated, get inspired!

  1. Step 1: Getting started with an exercise based approach
  2. Step 2: Gentle stretches – videos and step-by-step guides
  3. Step 3: Pilates
  4. Step 4: Tai Chi – videos and step-by-step guides
  5. Step 5: Yoga
  6. Step 6: Body conditioning – videos and step-by-step guides
  7. Step 7: Aquahab
  8. Step 8: ReACTiv8
  9. Step 9: Basic Body Awareness Therapy
  10. Step 10: Dietary and nutrition
  11. Step 11: Continuing to exercise in the future
  12. Step 12: Exercise in the community – activity directories for the area and further links

Unless otherwise indicated, the programmes are presented as PDF documents. To download a copy, click the right mouse button on the link and use your browser’s option to save the ‘Target’ or ‘Link’ to your computer.

Using ReConnect2Life

Don’t forget to look at the other modules in the programme when you have completed the steps above.

  1. 1: Understanding pain
  2. 2: Improving health and fitness
  3. 3: Changing the way you think and feel
  4. 4: Reconnecting with your values
  5. 5: Creating skills for the future
  6. 6: Specific conditions