Joe Wicks has launched a new 10-minute workout aimed at people awaiting major health events such as surgery, in a bid to get them moving before their operations
Joe Wicks, the renowned fitness coach who shot to fame during lockdown with his virtual fitness training videos for all ages, has issued a crucial warning to those awaiting surgery. The 39-year-old Body Coach is now focusing on individuals preparing for surgeries, operations or other significant health appointments that will put their bodies under stress.
He has released two sets of 10-minute exercises he calls “prehabilitation” or pre-op workouts, encouraging particularly older people to use the time before their medical procedures to get as fit as possible. In a conversation with an expert from Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, they agreed it’s a “really cheap medicine”, but one of the more challenging tasks as it requires more effort, commitment and motivation than simply taking a pill.
Joe explained: “You’ve got to prepare yourself for the operation, but that’s just one part of the process. Use that as a runway to get as strong as you can so when you’ve had the operation, if you are off your feet for a couple of weeks, you’re going to regain your fitness and strength a lot quicker than if you’ve just been sedentary for the whole year.”
Fitness expert Joe has taken an innovative approach to patient care, strongly endorsing simple workouts for his patients to slot into everyday life, including climbing stairs at home as part of their routine – steeping up and down twice in the morning, again at lunch, and twice in the afternoon. Profoundly, he believes in prehabilitation’s ability to minimise surgical risk and improve mental well-being prior to daunting health events.
With a staggering 2 million people in the UK queuing for surgery, Joe is engaging with some to debut his fitness regimes within the NHS environment. These 10-minute routines have been rigorously vetted by both the Centre for Perioperative Care and the British Geriatrics Society, certifying top-notch counsel pre-op for Brits nationwide.
NHS staff and patients didn’t hesitate to join Joe, demonstrating the planned exercises live. Addressing all levels of fitness, Joe included both standing and seated options to accommodate varying mobilities.
His proposed exercises are gentle and low-impact, building stamina rather than sculpting solid abs. But Joe stresses the importance of motion: “The more people get moving, the better…10 minutes you might think ‘oh what’s that going to do’, it’s something and it adds up. 10 minutes a day, 70 minutes a week, it means something.”