Why You Should Never Stop Exercising: My Return After Illness

When you stop exercising for even a short period, your body quickly reminds you why consistency matters. After being sick for several days and neglecting my workout routine, I experienced firsthand how quickly the body can become stiff and uncomfortable.

Not exercising did not help my recovery at all. In fact, it made things worse. I tried to stretch, but even basic movements caused pain in my legs, nails, toes – everything hurt due to the lack of exercise. This experience reinforced an important truth: it's very hard to exercise but very easy to gain weight. It's very hard to lose weight but very easy to gain it.

Taking Control of Your Body

The key to maintaining fitness is not letting your body control you – you must control your body. This means controlling your mouth, your cravings, and pushing yourself even when you don't feel like it. When you feel like skipping a workout, that's precisely when you need to force yourself to move.

During my first workout after being sick, I could barely sustain jogging for five minutes without stopping. The worst day was two days ago, but I'm already seeing improvement. Today, I'm able to jog longer, and my energy level is coming back.

Start Where You Are

You don't need to be a professional to benefit from exercise. You don't need to lift 100 or 200 pounds. Start by lifting just 5 or 10 pounds – or whatever you can manage. Little by little, your strength will improve.

The same applies to cardio exercise. I used to run at speed level 7 on my treadmill, and before that, I could handle level 9. After my break, I've had to reduce the intensity, but that's okay. The important thing is that I'm moving again.

The Importance of Health

Your health is fundamental to achieving your goals. When you're in good health, you can accomplish almost anything. It's only when illness prevents you from doing certain activities that you realize how much you rely on your physical wellbeing.

That's why we need to run, to exercise in whatever way we can. Even after being sick, feeling headaches and congestion, I forced myself to get up and shake my body. No more lying down, no more sickness – I'm back to taking care of my health.

Whatever your fitness level, whatever your goals, the most important thing is consistency. Your body will thank you for it.