Getting Back on Track: How to Overcome Sickness and Resume Exercise
Have you ever experienced how quickly your body can become stiff and uncomfortable after just a few days without exercise? This is exactly what happened to me recently after being sidelined by illness.
After several days of feeling sick, I noticed my body protesting in ways I hadn't anticipated. Even basic stretching became painful – the back of my legs, my knees, my toes – everything hurt simply due to lack of movement. This experience served as a powerful reminder of how crucial regular exercise is for maintaining not just fitness, but basic comfort and mobility.
The Challenge of Returning to Exercise
When you're recovering from illness, starting to exercise again can feel incredibly daunting. As I discovered during my recent livestream workout, even basic jogging for five minutes straight was challenging after my brief hiatus.
“It's very hard to lose weight, but very easy to gain weight,” I realized during my comeback session. The key difference? Discipline. “All you need to do is push your body. Force it. Don't let your body control you – instead, you control your body.”
Mind Over Matter
Returning to exercise after illness is largely a mental game. When your body says it's tired or wants to quit, that's when you need to take control:
- Control your impulses
- Control your eating habits
- Force your body to move even when it resists
As I reminded myself during my workout: “It's not easy. But you're gonna force it.”
Start Where You Are
One of the most important lessons I've learned about fitness is that you don't need to be perfect or professional. You simply need to start:
“We must not be professional. You must not lift 100 pounds. Just start by lifting your body. If you can't lift your body, just start by lifting 10 pounds or 5 pounds. Little by little, we are going to be fine.”
Monitoring Your Progress
Using fitness equipment with tracking features can help you gauge your progress. My treadmill, for example, displays:
- Calories burned
- Duration
- Speed level
- Incline
I've learned to adjust my intensity based on my current fitness level. “When I lose weight I'll start running at level 10, but if I put it now I will fall because of my weight. I used to put up to seven before, I used to put up to nine, but now I can do up to seven.”
The Reward of Persistence
Even in a short workout session, I could feel my body responding positively. “My energy level is coming back,” I noted as I approached 200 calories burned. The sweating that replaced my initial chills was a welcome sign that my body was reengaging with exercise.
Remember that health is wealth. When you're in good health, there's little you cannot achieve. That's why we must prioritize movement, exercise, and taking care of our bodies – even when, or especially when, it feels most difficult.
The path back to fitness after illness isn't about pushing to extremes. It's about patience, consistency, and gradually rebuilding your strength and stamina. Your body will thank you for it.
