Small ways to move more

The case for exercise comes before any of the suggestions. Joints and muscles need their daily dose of “lubricant” to avoid coming to a standstill. Regular exercise reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke, and helps reduce and control high blood pressure, high cholesterol, weight gain and diabetes. And the benefits do not stop there — you become stronger and more flexible, have more energy, and it reduces stress and tension.

Then an observation that is easy to skip past: after stoma surgery many people have found they are keen on achieving goals they would never have considered before. The change in lifestyle that follows the operation often brings out strength in people that may have been hidden before.

The list

• Look for ways to add more physical activity to your daily routines.
• Small changes in your lifestyle can make a big difference to your overall health.
• Take a walk for 10 or 15 minutes during your lunch break.
• Take stairs instead of escalators and lifts.
• Park further away from the shops and walk.
• Choose activities you enjoy, and pick a starting date that fits your schedule.
• Wear comfortable clothes and shoes.
• Start slowly — do not overdo it. If uncomfortable, stop.
• Try to exercise at the same time each day so it becomes part of your lifestyle.
• Drink plenty of water before, during and after each session.
• Ask family or friends to join a programme with you.
• Join an exercise group or health club.
• Do a variety of activities — walk one day, swim the next, cycle at the weekend.

Which activities are open to you afterwards? The answer is broad: other than extremely rough contact sports or very heavy lifting, you should be able to enjoy the same physical activities you enjoyed before — swimming, skiing, golf, tennis, aerobics, pilates, rowing, whichever is your favourite. Recovery can take up to six to eight weeks, and once past it, whatever you enjoyed before you should be able to do again.

Three people worth knowing about

The exercise programme this comes from introduces the three people who appear in its photographs before any of the exercises. It is a small editorial decision that does more work than the list of tips.

• Pia Espensen, born 1973, a physiotherapist working primarily with training instruction. Operated on for Crohn’s disease in 1993 and has had an ileostomy since. Her daily programme includes walking for an hour and pilates; she also does aerobics, swimming, dance and yoga.
• Lilljan Ø. Kjærra, born 1951. First operated on for cancer in 1991 and has had a colostomy since 1992. She trains at a gym two to three times a week and walks in the woods and the mountains of Norway.
• Michael Laden, born 1962, an HR assistant. Operated on for ulcerative colitis in 2000, with a temporary ileostomy until an ileo-anal pouch was made in 2001. He trains three to four times a week, playing football, swimming and cycling.

None of that is presented as a target. What it is, is a range — a physiotherapist doing yoga, someone in their seventies walking in mountains, someone playing football with a pouch — and the useful part is how ordinary the activities are.