Why You Shouldn't Skip Exercise When You're Sick: A Personal Experience
When illness strikes, our first instinct is often to rest completely. However, as many fitness enthusiasts discover, prolonged inactivity can lead to stiffness, discomfort, and a harder return to exercise. This reality became clear during a recent experience when several days of sickness and inactivity led to surprising physical consequences.
After feeling sick for several days and avoiding exercise, the body responded with increased stiffness and pain. Even basic stretching became difficult – the back of the legs, calves, and even toes felt painful due to the lack of movement. This experience serves as a powerful reminder that our bodies are designed to move, and complete inactivity often makes recovery more challenging rather than easier.
The Challenge of Returning to Exercise
Resuming exercise after a period of illness presents unique challenges. Despite lingering symptoms like headache and nasal congestion, sometimes a gentle workout can help the body recover its normal functioning. The key is finding the right balance – pushing enough to activate your muscles without overexerting yourself.
For those returning to exercise after illness, consider starting with a short, manageable workout. Even a brief 20-minute session can help reawaken your body and begin rebuilding your stamina. Listen to your body, but don't be afraid to gently challenge it.
The Weight Management Connection
One important aspect of consistent exercise is its role in weight management. As the saying goes, “It's very hard to lose weight but very easy to gain weight.” This reality means we must take deliberate control of our fitness routines.
The mental aspect of fitness cannot be overlooked. Successful fitness requires discipline – controlling your body rather than letting your body control you. This means making conscious choices about nutrition (“Control your mouth”) and exercise (“Force your body to move”).
Starting Small: The Path to Consistency
You don't need to be a fitness professional to benefit from regular exercise. The key is starting at an appropriate level for your current fitness. As noted during the workout, “We must not be professional. You must not lift 100 pounds. Just start by lifting 10 pounds. Five pounds.”
For cardio exercise, the same principle applies. You might begin with walking or light jogging before advancing to more intense speeds. A treadmill with various speed settings (from 2-12) allows for this gradual progression. While a beginner might start at level 3-5, advancement to level 7 represents significant progress, with the ultimate goal perhaps being level 10 after sufficient weight loss and conditioning.
The Recovery Process
Returning to exercise after illness often follows a pattern: initial discomfort gives way to increasing energy. What starts as feeling cold can transition to productive sweating as the body warms up and metabolism increases. This process, while challenging, signals the body's return to normal functioning.
The satisfaction of seeing progress – whether in calories burned (approaching 200 in this short session) or in energy levels increasing – provides powerful motivation to continue with regular exercise, even when recovering from illness.
The Takeaway
While rest is certainly important during illness, complete inactivity for extended periods may actually hinder recovery rather than help it. Gentle, appropriate exercise can help maintain mobility, reduce stiffness, and potentially speed recovery by keeping the body's systems active.
The next time you're recovering from illness, consider whether a very gentle workout might be appropriate to keep your body from becoming unnecessarily stiff and uncomfortable. Always consult healthcare providers when in doubt, but remember that our bodies are designed for movement, and sometimes the path back to wellness includes carefully reintroducing exercise.
