Returning to an Active Lifestyle After Serious Illness or Injury

If I Can, You Can Too

Despite dealing with health issues my entire life, I was able to power through and compete consistently in high-level sports. It wasn’t until I was 23 that my health challenges intensified significantly, forcing me to start and stop my participation in athletics and fitness in a continuous cycle.

Throughout the last decade, I have learned valuable lessons on how to approach this. Most of these lessons came from me trying to re-enter an active lifestyle in a forced and unwise manner.

Now that I’ve successfully returned to the activities I love, I want to share the things I have personally learned that I believe can assist you in safely and successfully transitioning into fitness and competition after suffering from a health condition. I have come across too many people who believe they can’t live a healthy life of movement and activity because of the things that have happened to them concerning their health. I’m here to tell you that you can.

Slow is Fast

Assuming you’ve been cleared by a doctor to return to exercise, you need to understand that you’re playing the long game here. You’re most likely not going to go from 0 to 100. I recommend that you don’t try.

Before you start, you need to validate what you’ve been through, and why you may not be able to immediately do as much as you’d like to. This took me a long time to get through my head. For so many years, I was too hard on myself. I didn’t want to make excuses and I would tell myself that it didn’t matter what health issues I had suffered. It didn’t matter how I was currently feeling—I should simply turn on the jets and perform at 100 percent.

This led to me pushing too hard too fast doing more harm than good, and honestly, slowing down my overall progress. As it is with most things in life, consistency always trumps intensity.

This is going to take time and patience. It’s going to require the need for you to listen to your body, finding the Goldilocks zone where you are safely pushing, but not pushing too hard. For example, maybe trade out that run for a short walk, or do some light bodyweight exercises instead of trying to pump iron in the gym right off the bat.

Tune In

For anyone without limitations or the need for slow and tactical reintegration, I would recommend finding a program that fits your needs and goals and sticking to it religiously, as long as you are recovering and feeling balanced.

However, if you’re just now getting back into it after illness or injury, you may need to take a different approach. This also applies to anyone dealing with a chronic condition that may impact your physical ability day to day, or week to week. Expect the possibility of a nonlinear upward trajectory. Don’t force consistent output or consistent progress. Again, you’re playing the long game.

If this is you, I would urge you to tune in. To listen. This doesn’t mean you should dive into things without a structured plan. Rather, you should be flexible with your plan—being willing to change aspects of it if need be, or even skip a workout altogether.

There are many times I’ve heard the phrase, “if I can't do the full workout, I just don't do it at all.” Something is always better than nothing. You don’t need to hit the ground running Day 1 with an insane training program. There were times when my entire workout was just two push-ups. Do what you can; don’t wait until you’re 100% to begin. Start small, start with what feels best, work your way up slowly, and you’ll be surprised how this can help jump-start the process.

Be Realistic

“I’m just so frustrated. I used to be able to do so much more”, is something else I hear quite frequently. I get it. It kills your confidence, it’s humbling—especially if you were active and fit before you were struggling with your health.

Dismiss these thoughts. Push them out of your head. Like I said earlier, validate yourself. You’re on your way back up and it’s unrealistic to be able to do what you were previously able to do. See your efforts through the lens of your current context.

After a significant amount of time being bedridden, I started with walks that were less than 2 minutes. That was all I could safely handle. “I get stronger every step” was the mantra I recited in my head over and over. And when I reached my safe limit, I would congratulate myself for what I was able to do. It felt silly most of the time—I used to run marathons in the mountains—I would think. But it’s not about what you used to be able to do, it’s about what you’re able to do now.

Celebrate the small victories: You worked out for 5 minutes? Great. You biked a mile? Incredible. Realize that every little thing you do is moving you in the right direction. A house is built one brick at a time. Focus your attention on the big picture, not just your current state. Realistic expectations set the stage for long-term success.

Lifestyle

• Sleep

If you’re a human being, you need your sleep. If you are recovering from a health condition, you need it even more. And if you’re both healing and returning to an active lifestyle, it’s even more of a non-negotiable. Be intentional about this. Do whatever you must: set a bedtime, put away all screens an hour before bed, or get into a routine. Whatever you do, make sure you’re getting an optimal amount. Everyone is slightly different, but as a rule of thumb, get at least 7 hours per night. If you’re not sleeping, you’re not going to recover from your workouts, leading to fatigue, increased injury risk, lack of performance, and stagnant gains.

• Nutrition

Eat, and eat well, regardless of whether you’re exercising or not. What you put in your body directly affects your health, and it is one of the biggest factors in how you perform and recover physically and mentally. There is so much contrasting information being circulated concerning nutrition. Don’t overcomplicate this. Eat as many one-ingredient foods as you can—egg, potato, arugula, etc. Aim to make this the vast majority of your diet. At least 75% of your food should not come from a box or a bag. For me personally, I try to stick to at least 95%. If something has a long list of ingredients, ditch it or save it as a treat to yourself. The cleaner you eat, the better you’ll feel, and the more fruitful (ha ha) your workouts will be.

• Stress

Most people would agree that in modern society, life is full of constant stressors. If you’re healing, your body has less of a capacity for added stressors. Exercise is a stressor—a positive stressor? Absolutely. But a stressor nonetheless. I would encourage you to be aware of how much you can safely add to your plate. If you are not yet ready to return to exercise, be patient and wait a little longer. If you are, be cognizant of how much added stress you can manage.

Get Help!

If you are feeling lost or unsure as you start this process, don’t be afraid to get help from an expert. There are countless trainers, nutritionists, and experts both locally and online that can help you safely navigate your journey to a healthy and active lifestyle.

You Got This

I’m well aware of how difficult this is—scary, even. You may have all sorts of doubts and questions running through your head about whether you're ready, or if this is even possible. Doubt your doubts. Don’t be discouraged. Just take this one step at a time and be willing to fail along the way. Just continue to move Onward, no matter how slowly, and you’ll be thanking yourself weeks, months, or years from now.

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If you have any questions, or can relate in any way, please reach out. I’d love to hear your story.