The Journey Back to Fitness: Overcoming Sickness Through Exercise

After several days of feeling unwell and not exercising, one fitness enthusiast discovered that lack of physical activity only made matters worse. “I have been feeling sick for some days, I have not really exercised and I did not do any good for my sister. That did not help me at all,” they shared during a recent workout session.

The fitness enthusiast explained how inactivity had actually intensified their discomfort: “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.”

Pushing Through Discomfort

Despite still experiencing symptoms—”I still feel [pain in my] neck, my head is aching me, my nose is growing”—they decided to push through with a short 20-minute workout to get back on track. The determination to overcome physical limitations was evident throughout the session.

“It is very hard to lose weight, but very easy to gain weight,” they observed, highlighting one of the fundamental challenges of fitness. The solution? “All you need to do is to push your body, you force it. Not letting your body control, you control your body, control your mouth.”

Mind Over Matter

The workout session emphasized the importance of mental discipline in maintaining physical health: “When you feel like eating something unhealthy, you say no, I will not eat today. I will exercise. Just go ahead, control your lungs, control your belly, control your tummy, control everything. And then force your body to move. Force it, it’s not easy, but you’re gonna force it.”

By the middle of the session, the improvement was already noticeable. “Yes, no more lying down. I got up and I shook my body. No more lying down, no more sickness, no more headache. I’m back after the journey.”

Gradual Progress Is Key

An important message shared during the workout was that fitness doesn’t require professional-level intensity from the beginning: “We need to run, we need to exercise anyhow. We can, we must not be professional as well. You must not lift 100 pounds. Just start by lifting 10 pounds, 5 pounds. If you cannot lift 10 pounds, just little by little we are going to be fine.”

This approach to fitness—starting small and gradually building up—makes exercise accessible to everyone regardless of their current fitness level.

Adapting Exercise Intensity

The session also touched on the importance of adjusting workout intensity according to one’s capabilities. Using a treadmill as an example, they explained how they adjusted speed settings based on their current fitness level: “Five is speed learning. And six is speed. It’s also speed on seven… When I lose weight, I’ll start running 10… I used to put up to seven. Before, I used to put up to nine. But now, I can do up to seven, but not 10, not 11, not 12.”

By the end of the short session, progress was already evident: “I was cold now, but now I’m sweating,” they noted, having burned almost 200 calories during the workout.

The session ended with a renewed sense of energy and determination, proving that sometimes the hardest part of exercising is simply getting started, especially after a period of illness or inactivity.