Getting Back into Exercise after a Long Illness

No matter how fit you are, a long illness can sideline your exercise routine. Just because you are feeling better does not mean that you can jump right back into your exercise routine. There are steps you should take to make sure to safeguard your health.
Make sure you’ve recovered
First, make sure that you are healthy enough to exercise. Even if you are on the mend, you do not want to take a chance of relapsing or going backward. Talk to your physician and make sure to get the okay before beginning your exercise routine.
Start slowly
You want to start very slowly when getting back into your exercise routine, especially if you have a very strenuous routine. This includes both the amount of time that you are exercising for as well as the intensity of the workouts. For instance, if you are used to running great distances at fast speeds, then you might want to start by walking much smaller distances. In some cases you will need to do a different exercise for a little while. For instance, perhaps you play a strenuous sports such as racquetball. You may need to do other, less intense workouts first before you go back to playing the game. If you normally do a very intense aerobics step class, then you may want to start with the low impact class that is easier.
Listen to your body
It is very important to listen to your body when getting back into exercise after a long illness. If what you are doing hurts or if you feel too weary then you should stop and take it slower. It can be very frustrating that you cannot do what you did before but by pushing yourself too hard, you may end up hurting yourself and need to go even further back.
Build your routine
You should slowly build back up to your exercise routine. This will include increasing both the intensity of the workout as well as the types of exercises and the length. You can make yourself a schedule, but do not feel like you have to stick with it. It is okay if it takes longer than you anticipate to build back up. It is better to do it in a safer way. You may still have other residual effects from the illness.
Depending on your illness, you may not be able to get back to exactly where you were and that is okay. Do what you can do so that you can get the benefits of exercise in a healthy way.