Why Exercise Helps When You Have Mito
If you have mitochondrial disease (mito), regular exercise will increase your fitness, improve your physical and mental health and help you feel fit and strong.
Key Points
- Exercise can help you live well with mito
- See your doctor and have a heart check before starting a new exercise program
- Find a physio or exercise physiologist to help you develop an exercise plan
- Find an exercise you enjoy
- Set small goals
- Build up slowly
- Be aware of your pain levels
- Take regular breaks
- Join a community exercise group
- Stop if you have severe pain, excessive tiredness or other symptoms
- Recognise, enjoy and reward your success
Download the Exercise and Mito fact sheet for more information and practical tips
How does exercise help?
If you have mito, exercise gives you more energy by increasing the number of healthy mitochondria in your cells, and keeping them functioning at their best. Here are some of the reasons why exercise is great for people with mito:
Exercise helps you feel fit and strong
- Improves your fitness and energy levels, which makes it easier to do daily tasks
- Increases your strength
- Improves your coordination, balance and flexibility, reducing your risk of falls and injuries
- Improves your mood and mental health
- Reduces body fat
- Improves your confidence with physical activity

Exercise helps you live well with mito
- Gives you more energy so you don’t feel as tired
- Makes your muscles stronger and increases muscle mass, reversing any muscle loss due to inactivity or ageing
- Helps to protect you against chronic illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease
- Improves your quality of life and helps you maintain independence

How to start exercising
It’s important to have a heart check (known as a cardiac screening) before you start a new exercise program. See your specialist doctor to have this done first. Your doctor can give you advice on the best kind of exercise for you and keep track of your health while you start a new exercise routine.
Find out more
- How to access government support
- Find a physio or exercise physiologist who have experience with mito
- Learn about the Australian Mitochondrial Disease Exercise Physiology Network aiming to improve clinical care for mito
- Read the "How to exercise with mitochondrial disease" article
We'd love to hear from you
Let us know what you think about this Fact Sheet by filling in a quick 3-minute survey.