The Power of Perseverance: Pushing Through Exercise During Recovery
There’s nothing quite as challenging as finding the motivation to exercise when your body is fighting against you. After several days of feeling sick and avoiding physical activity, one fitness enthusiast discovered the painful consequences of letting their routine slip away.
“I have been feeling sick for some days, I have not really exercised and I did not do any good for my system,” they shared during a recent workout session. “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.”
The Challenge of Getting Back on Track
Despite still experiencing symptoms including neck pain, headache, and nasal congestion, they made the decision to push through and restart their fitness routine with a 20-minute workout session. This determination highlights an important aspect of maintaining a healthy lifestyle – consistency matters, even when it’s difficult.
“It is very hard to dress as nice. But very easy to get weight. Very hard to lose weight. Very easy to get weight,” they observed, touching on a universal truth that many fitness enthusiasts recognize. “All you need to do is to push your body. You force it. Not letting your body control you. Control your body.”
The Mental Game of Fitness
One of the most insightful moments came when discussing the mental discipline required to maintain a healthy lifestyle: “Control your mouth. That’s why you feel like it is a shower. You say, no. I will not eat today’s shower. I will exercise. Just go ahead. 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 can force it.”
This approach to fitness emphasizes willpower and self-discipline as key components of any successful health journey.
Measuring Progress
During the session, they noted how their endurance had improved compared to previous days: “If it was yesterday, I cannot sustain this jogging for five minutes. No stop five minutes jogging. If it was two days ago, that was the worst.”
They also discussed their approach to intensity levels when using exercise equipment: “Five is speed learning. And six is also speed learning. Seven, it has auto twife. When I lose weight, I’ll start running 10. Because that way you have to pop pop pop. If I put it now, I will fall.”
The Importance of Incremental Progress
A particularly motivational message came when they emphasized that fitness doesn’t require professional-level intensity from the start: “Your health is what? When you are in good health, you cannot… It’s only when you cannot do certain things that you cannot achieve your goals. That is why we need to run. We need to exercise anyhow we can. You must not be professional as well. You must not lift 100 pounds. Just start by lifting 10 pounds, 5 pounds. So if you cannot lift 10 pounds, just little by little, we are going to be fine.”
By the end of the session, positive results were already apparent: “I’m getting better. That’s why I’m running today, most more running today. I also wake up my body today. I was cold now but now I’m sweating… My energy level is coming back.”
This journey of pushing through physical discomfort to maintain fitness habits serves as a reminder that consistency, even during challenging periods, remains one of the most important aspects of achieving long-term health goals.