Cold weather makes it easy to start exercising stiff. NHS inform, the health information service of NHS Scotland, has a page on how to reduce your risk of injury from exercise or physical activity. It works through warming up, recovery, managing load, footwear and equipment, rules and nutrition. Its numbers: a warm-up of 10 to 15 minutes, a cool-down of 5 to 10 minutes, and running volume raised by no more than 10% a week. We set the page out as written and add our own sums for the 10% rule.
1. Warm up for around 10 to 15 minutes — raise your heart rate, dynamic stretching, strength and balance, sport-specific movement.
2. Cool down for 5 to 10 minutes — recovering from an intense session takes over 24 hours.
3. Raise running by 10% a week or less, take at least one rest day a week, and do resistance training 2 sessions a week.
Warming up — NHS inform
NHS inform says a warm-up prepares you to exercise and should take around 10 to 15 minutes. It has four parts.
| Type | What the NHS says | Worth noting (ours) |
|---|---|---|
| Raise your heart rate | Gradually raising heart rate and body temperature gets joints, muscles and tendons ready. Depending on the activity, walk briskly swinging your arms, then gently jog or cycle | Marching on the spot works too (ours) |
| Dynamic stretching | Controlled, movement-based stretches after you have warmed up, through full range of motion — forward and backward lunges, high knees, hip circles, leg swings, shoulder rotations, trunk rotations | Not the same as holding a stretch |
| Strength and balance | Strength builds muscle and tendon resilience; balance improves reactions, body awareness and co-ordination — single-leg squats (knee over the middle of the foot), single-leg heel raises, single-leg balancing, wall slides, shoulder rotation with weights or bands | Include weekly; can also be part of a warm-up |
| Sport-specific | Ball-passing in ball sports, back, neck and hip rotations in golf, light contact in rugby, light swings in racquet sports, walking drills for running | FIFA 11+ (football), Activate (rugby), The KNEE Programme (netball) can be used for other sports |
The NHS (England) warm-up page gives five moves taking at least 6 minutes — see warm-up before exercise. The two pages differ, so one way to read them is 6 minutes for light exercise and 10 to 15 for ball sports or hard sessions (our summary).
Recovery — NHS inform
Give your body time to recover: it takes over 24 hours to recover from an intense session.
| Type | What the NHS says | Worth noting (ours) |
|---|---|---|
| Cool-down | Straight after activity. Lowers heart rate slowly and helps remove lactic acid built up in muscles. Running to slow jog to walk, around 5 to 10 minutes | — |
| Fluids and food | Drink fluids afterwards, ideally something that replaces electrolytes. A light snack with carbohydrate and protein — protein for muscle repair, carbohydrate for energy | — |
| Sleep | Important for recovery, and sleeping well before activity prepares the body and improves performance | — |
Managing load — NHS inform
Many injuries come from repetitive overloading of tissues, particularly bones and tendons. Make them strong, and avoid overloading them into overuse injuries.
| Type | What the NHS says | Worth noting (ours) |
|---|---|---|
| Starting to run | If you are not active, start with walking. Once you can walk for 30 to 40 minutes, you are ready for a running programme such as NHS England’s Couch to 5k | Couch to 5K |
| Once you’re running | Follow a recognised plan. The 10% rule: raise the amount you run by 10% or less a week. Watches and phones help monitor | Our sums below |
| Rest days | Avoid consecutive days in the same sport, take at least one rest day a week, have a light recovery day such as swimming or gentle walking | — |
| Resistance training | Strong muscles and tendons handle more. Aim for 2 sessions a week | strength and flexibility |
The 10% rule — our sums
The page states the principle only. Here is what exactly 10% a week does for someone running 10 km a week now.
| Week (our example) | Weekly distance | Worth noting (ours) |
|---|---|---|
| Now | 10 km | — |
| Week 1 | 11 km | +1 km |
| Week 2 | 12.1 km | +1.1 km |
| Week 3 | about 13.3 km (13.31) | — |
| Week 4 | about 14.6 km (14.64) | — |
| Week 8 | about 21.4 km | First week over 20 km — doubling takes about two months |
10% is a ceiling, not a target. Holding steady or easing off in a sore or tired week fits the page’s warning about overload, on our reading.
Footwear, equipment and rules — NHS inform
| Type | What the NHS says | Worth noting (ours) |
|---|---|---|
| Footwear | Sport-specific, supportive, comfortable. Renew when you see signs of excessive wear | No mileage figure on the page |
| Safety equipment | Well-fitting mouthguards for face and mouth injuries; head gear in ice hockey and lacrosse against concussion; shin guards in football and hockey | — |
| Rules | Rules protect you — the tackle height rule in rugby and the body checking rule in ice hockey can reduce concussion and spinal injuries | — |
| Nutrition | A balanced diet helps recovery and refuels. Take in enough calories for your activity; too few can lead to fatigue, underperformance, metabolic problems and lower bone density, all raising injury risk | bone health exercise |
Checklist
- ☐ Warm up 10 to 15 minutes — heart rate, dynamic stretches, strength and balance, sport moves
- ☐ Cool down 5 to 10 minutes; fluids and a carbohydrate-protein snack
- ☐ Sleep well before and after
- ☐ Running up 10% a week or less, a rest day every week, resistance training twice a week
- ☐ Replace worn shoes; sport-specific protection
Questions that remain
What about holding stretches in a warm-up?
The page only lists dynamic stretching for warming up. Stretches after exercise are in stretching after exercise.
What if I am already injured?
The page points to body-area guides. Care for sprains and strains is in soft tissue injury.
Sources
- NHS — inform (Scotland) — How to reduce your risk of injury from exercise or physical activity — source (page shows: last updated 23 July 2026; source NHS 24 MSK Clinical Advisory Group; checked 26 October 2026). The four parts of a warm-up with example moves, 10 to 15 minutes; recovery (5 to 10 minute cool-down, fluids and food, sleep, over 24 hours); load (30 to 40 minutes of walking, the 10% rule, rest days, resistance twice a week); footwear, equipment, rules, nutrition.
- Not read. The FIFA 11+, Activate and KNEE programmes themselves, the concussion page, body-area injury pages.
- What we added. The “worth noting” column and the Korean care gloss.
Where to check further
- Rehabilitation medicine or orthopaedics — if the same spot keeps hurting.
Written on 26 October 2026. The content is from the NHS; the glosses are ours.
