Why You Shouldn't Skip Exercise When Feeling Sick: A Personal Recovery Journey
After several days of feeling sick and avoiding exercise, I experienced firsthand how quickly the body can become stiff and uncomfortable. The lack of movement made stretching painful—even the back of my legs, my knees, and my toes ached from inactivity. This experience reinforced an important fitness truth: consistency matters more than intensity.
Even while dealing with a headache and congestion, I found that getting up and moving my body helped me start feeling better. Yesterday, I couldn't sustain jogging for even five minutes without stopping. Today, my energy is returning, and I'm already seeing improvement.
The Importance of Body Control
One of the most challenging aspects of maintaining a healthy lifestyle is developing discipline. As I often remind myself: it's very hard to lose weight but very easy to gain it. Success comes down to control—not letting your body dictate your choices, but rather you controlling your body.
This means controlling what you eat, when you eat, and pushing yourself to move even when you don't feel like it. When your body craves unhealthy foods, you need the discipline to say no. When your body wants to remain sedentary, you need to force it to move.
Starting Small Is Still Starting
Good health is foundational to achieving any goal. When you're in poor health, even simple tasks become difficult obstacles. That's why consistent exercise is so important—and you don't need to be a professional athlete to benefit.
You don't need to lift 100 pounds to see results. Start with what you can manage—maybe that's just 5 or 10 pounds. The important thing is to begin and stay consistent. The same applies to cardio exercise. Start with what you can handle and gradually increase as your fitness improves.
Tracking Progress
Using equipment with tracking features can help monitor your progress. A good treadmill, for example, will show metrics like time, calories burned, distance, and speed. As your fitness improves, you can gradually increase intensity.
When I was at my peak fitness, I could comfortably run at speed level 7, and sometimes even 9. Currently, I'm building back up and finding my limits. The highest setting on my machine is 12, but I know attempting that at my current fitness level would be dangerous.
The Recovery Process
Today's workout is about waking up my body after illness. I'm already feeling the benefits—I started feeling cold but am now sweating as my circulation improves. Even a short 20-minute session can make a difference when you're consistent.
Remember that fitness is a journey, not a destination. Some days will be better than others, but the key is to keep showing up and giving what you can. Your body will thank you for it.
