The Power of Pushing Through: How Regular Exercise Helps Fight Illness

When illness strikes, it's tempting to stay in bed and avoid physical activity. However, as many fitness enthusiasts discover, prolonged inactivity often makes recovery more challenging. This important lesson about maintaining movement during minor illness comes to life in a personal account of pushing through sickness with exercise.

After feeling sick for several days and avoiding exercise, the body responds with stiffness, pain, and discomfort. “I have been feeling sick for some days, I have not really exercised… That did not help me at all. Not exercising did not help me, but made my body to be stiff. I tried to stretch, even the back of my legs, my nails, my toes, everything pained me. Because of lack of exercise.”

Getting Back on Track

Despite still experiencing symptoms – “I still feel her neck, my head is aching me, my nose is growing” – getting back to physical activity proved beneficial. The short 20-minute workout session demonstrated how quickly the body can begin responding positively to movement.

This experience highlights an important principle in fitness: consistency matters. Even when not feeling 100%, a modified workout can help maintain momentum and prevent the physical regression that comes with complete inactivity.

Mind Over Matter: Controlling Your Body

Perhaps the most powerful message comes in the mental approach to fitness: “It is very hard to lose weight. Very easy to get weight. All you need to do is to push your body. You force it. Not letting your body control you.”

This philosophy extends beyond exercise to nutrition: “Control your mouth. Control your belly. Control your crummy. Control everything. And then force your body to move. Force it. It's not easy. But you're gonna force it.”

Progress, Not Perfection

The workout session revealed the impact of taking time away from exercise. Previous fitness levels included running at speeds of 7-9 on the treadmill, with 12 being the maximum. After illness, even these previous capabilities were temporarily out of reach.

This serves as an important reminder that fitness is a journey with natural fluctuations. The key is returning to activity and gradually rebuilding strength and endurance.

The Benefits of Consistency

By the end of the short workout session, positive results were already apparent: “I was cold now, but now I'm sweating” and “My energy level is coming back.” This demonstrates how quickly the body can respond to physical activity, even when recovering from illness.

The session burned nearly 200 calories and, more importantly, helped restore energy and a positive mindset after days of feeling unwell.

Start Where You Are

For those intimidated by fitness, remember this advice: “We must not be professional as well. He must not lift 100 pounds to 100 pounds. Just start by lifting 10 pounds, 5 pounds… Just little by little, we are going to be fine.”

This approach—starting with what you can do today rather than waiting until you can do more—is the foundation of sustainable fitness progress.

The next time you're feeling under the weather, consider whether a gentle, modified workout might help rather than hinder your recovery. As this experience shows, sometimes getting moving is exactly what your body needs to start feeling better.