Healthy Lifestyle For All

Getting Back on Track After a Setback: Part I

Getting Back on Track After a Setback: Part I

Sean Foy, M.A.

President, Personal Wellness Corporation


Sickness or disability does not define who we are or what we can accomplish. Exercise is possible, even for people with issues like arthritis, cancer, chronic fatigue syndrome, exercise-induced asthma, fibromyalgia, high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease. I've seen it happen! Of course, you should always consult your doctor before beginning an exercise program when you have an injury or chronic condition.


If you have an acute illness or injury, you’ll need to recuperate before you can resume exercising. But if you have a chronic health challenge or longstanding difficulty, you'll need to find ways of working around it.


In the past, doctors often told people with chronic ailments to restrict their activity. Many people with a chronic condition became inactive due to pain, discomfort, limited range of motion, lack of motivation, or fear. But, inactivity leads to a decline in strength and stamina. So if you have been sedentary because of a health issue, muscle loss, weight gain, depression, or fatigue, you may be worse off now than when you were first diagnosed. Plus, you are at greater risk for further injury.


These days, the medical community has changed its approach. While each chronic condition has a different treatment plan, the best advice is usually to get moving again! Remember, you should always consult your doctor before beginning an exercise program when you have an injury or chronic condition.


Bouncing Back After a Setback


If you are recovering from an illness like the flu, or if you've gone several weeks without exercising for any reason, don't try to restart your routine the same place you left off. It's important to give your muscles, ligaments, and tendons the opportunity to get stronger again. This will help protect you from injury as you work back up to your previous fitness level. For a healthy and safe recovery after a break from exercise, follow these tips:

• Decrease the fitness intensity level of your aerobic workouts. For example, if you were previously exercising at level 8 on a fitness intensity scale of 0 to 10, decrease your intensity to level 6.


• For your resistance exercises, temporarily decrease your weight selection by 30% to 50%.


• As a general rule, take it easy for the same amount of time you were sick. At minimum, scale back on your exercise intensity for one week.

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