Stephen Strasburg is advising Matt Harvey to take his recovery from Tommy John surgery slowly.

"I learned the hard way," Strasburg told The New York Post.

Strasburg had reconstructive arm surgery after blowing out his elbow near the end of the 2010 season.

The Nationals right-hander said taking the recovery day-by-day is not necessarily the best idea.

"It can flip on you," Strasburg said. "You'll feel great one day and the next day it's terrible. The best advice I got was, 'Look where you were at the start of the month and then at the end of the month. Don't look at where you were yesterday.'"