From Mark's Daily Apple.

10 Tips For Rebuilding Fitness and Strength After Long-Term Injury, Illness or Atrophy

Something I needed to hear. I've had a lot of tendinitis/wear-and-tear/overuse injuries at work of late, and I've been using it as an excuse to be inactive other than what I do at work. I have a feeling it's making everything even more sore and stiff, just because I'm afraid to add more wear and tear. Well, there's no reason why I can't do stretching and isometrics.

Good advice. Sometimes when one is forced to be sedentary, inertia takes over making it too easy to continue to be sedentary. A routine to break away is a good thing.

The Egoscue Method and yoga poses are great, low stress, ways to keep flexible that I've used in the past.

Nice list.

I have done some of the suggestions just based on what made sense at the time. Sure helped to have young sons to help pull to get off the couch when any effort caused screaming pain. Eventually could sit upright on the edge and do a short light workout. Sitting. Took years to get up stairs easily. Only now are lungs up to full capacity. A far cry from sitting on couch only to realize I just stop breathing. All due to long term sedintary -ness.

Fear of pain is real. Everytime I pull wet laundry from front loading washer I remember the sudden severe pain that dropped me to the floor. Working slowly and deliberately is the only way forward.

Take what I can get. One baby step at a time!!

MsArielle, I can't remember, did you have a car wreck, is that what happened?

These are great. I've had a series of stuff. Some unknown infection awhile back that ballooned me up, then nerve damage to my elbow. I think doing bear crawls would be awesome for me right now. I feel super weak.

I also found that Zero Balancing (a kind of massage therapy) can do wonders when I don't have the energy to even do things myself.

I now have a really visceral understanding of a person's "reserves" and how illness and injury drain them. That's why it can take so long to rebuild.

We aren't working from baseline. We are also filling those depleted energy reserves.

Nearly a couple of years back I was in an accident with a small number of broken bones, my ankle being the most challenging, THEN got food poisoning, THEN needed to fly out and take care of a sick relative for the summer. Wow! What a summer! But was recovered enough to hide all symptoms when I got there so they didn't realize I wasn't necessarily starting out much better off than the relative at first. I did end up using some of Sisson's suggestions (not having seen them) and found them good: walking slowly without a limp (hide the evidence), more walking as able, building up to finally riding a bike, lots of protein. I packed a bunch of whey protein and gelatin powder for collagen/healing in my luggage and used it all. Worked my way up to using those stretchy exercise tube things for strength training, too. Sick relative and I both recovered and doing well now.