How to Push Through Exercise When You're Feeling Sick
Getting back into exercise after feeling under the weather can be challenging, but it's often exactly what your body needs. As one fitness enthusiast recently discovered, lack of exercise can actually make you feel worse, leading to stiffness, pain, and discomfort throughout the body.
After feeling sick for several days and avoiding workouts, this individual experienced stiffness in their legs, neck pain, headaches, and overall body discomfort. The lack of movement had actually intensified their symptoms rather than helping recovery.
The Importance of Maintaining Movement
Even when you're not feeling your best, some level of movement can be beneficial. Gentle stretching and light cardio can help maintain flexibility, reduce stiffness, and potentially accelerate recovery. The key is finding the right balance – pushing yourself enough to get the benefits without overexerting.
Mind Over Matter: Controlling Your Body
One of the most powerful insights shared was about the mental aspect of fitness: “Don't let your body control you – you control your body.” This applies to both exercise discipline and nutrition habits:
- Control your eating habits rather than giving in to every craving
- Force your body to move even when it doesn't feel like it
- Start with what you can do, not what you think you should do
Progressive Approach to Fitness
Not everyone needs to be a professional athlete or lift heavy weights to experience the benefits of exercise. Starting small is perfectly acceptable:
“We must not be professional. You must not lift 100 pounds. Just start by lifting 10 pounds. Five pounds. So if we cannot lift 10 pounds, just little by little, we are going to be fine.”
Monitoring Your Progress
Using fitness equipment with tracking features can help you monitor your progress. Parameters like calories burned, distance covered, and speed can give you tangible measurements of improvement.
For example, as fitness improves, you might be able to increase the speed settings on a treadmill. Someone who previously ran at level 7 might eventually work up to levels 9 or 10 as their conditioning improves.
Listening to Your Body While Challenging It
The balance between pushing yourself and respecting your limitations is delicate. As demonstrated in this recovery workout, it's important to challenge yourself but also acknowledge when you need to scale back.
Starting with short, manageable workout sessions can help rebuild your strength and endurance after illness. Even a 20-minute session can be effective in reactivating your body and beginning the process of regaining your previous fitness level.
Conclusion
Maintaining some form of physical activity, even during or after illness, can be beneficial for both physical and mental well-being. The key is to adjust your expectations, start slowly, and gradually build back up to your normal routine.
Remember that fitness is a journey, not a destination. Every step counts, especially those taken when it would be easier to stay on the couch.
