7. Track your activity and progress

Download guide: Long COVID activity tracker (PDF, 262kb)

Make sure you exercise safely

• Be active at a level that’s right for you. Pushing yourself to do too much too soon will not help your recovery. If you push your body too much, you might feel a lot worse afterwards and this can last for several hours or days. This is called ‘post-exertional malaise’.
• Using a diary, like our activity tracker, will help you notice how your energy levels change after activity. You’ll be able to notice patterns in what you do and how it makes you feel during and after. That way, you can create a plan that helps you become more active at your pace and in a way that suits you.

Before you start any activity, it’s important to think about how you’re feeling.

It’s important to understand how you feel physically, and how motivated you feel. Some days you may feel low or unmotivated, which can make you feel less like exercising. However, getting active when you feel low can improve your mood.

Other days you may feel physically tired and don’t have the energy to get active, and these are the days you should rest. If you feel like you could manage some activity, then you can plan it into your day.

You could try rating yourself on a scale from 1-10. It’ll help you to compare how you feel from day to day. If you’re not feeling good today, don’t attempt too much. Rest and don’t push yourself.

Think about what you need to do within your day. Any activities you need to do will use up energy, so make sure you take this into account when thinking about movement you plan to do. These will be different for everyone, depending on your circumstances. For example, you might need to consider any work or social commitments, as well as any household chores.

You should think about the things you have to do, as well as things you’d like to be able to do, if you can. By thinking ahead, you’ll find it easier to plan any physical activity around your life.

Recording your activity can help you to notice what activities make your symptoms worse. For example, you might notice that every day you’ve worked and tried to do another activity, you’ve been feeling unwell. Or you may notice that you feel better when you get a good night’s sleep.

Sometimes you may have a delay in feeling tired after exercise. For example, you may not feel fatigued until two or three days later.

It might also be useful to think about:

• What went well this week?
• What was difficult this week?
• What can I do differently next week?
• Remember, any progress is good progress!

Download and print out blank copies of our activity tracker. You don’t need to fill it out all at once – take your time to think about how you are feeling and how your activity has affected your energy levels.