Building Sustainable Physical Habits with Chronic Inflammation
Why Listening to Your Body Matters More Than Following the Plan
Why Is Exercise So Hard to Get Right?
If you live with chronic inflammation, chances are you’ve been told at some point:
"Exercise will help your pain."
"Just move more—it’s good for your joints!"
"Try yoga, pilates, or some light weights."
And yet, for many of us, it’s not that simple.
What counts as "exercise" when your body doesn’t respond the way it's supposed to?
For some, exercise is going to the gym, lifting weights, or training for an event. For others, it’s simply making it through the grocery store without needing a three-hour nap afterward. Some days, exercise means playing a sport you love, and other days, it means getting from your bed to the couch without flaring up.
Yet the advice we’re given—whether from doctors, fitness experts, social-media influencers or well-meaning friends—is rarely designed for people like us.
Why We’re Talking About This
At InflamMed, we’ve talked about these challenges for a while—because most exercise advice simply is not fit for us.
Recently, Mana Medical approached us—not to tell us what to do, but to ask what we need.
They’re working on a new way to track how inflammation (or “flares”) impacts physical activity and recovery—taking some of the guesswork out of exercise. But before they move forward, they want to listen first.
And that’s why we’re having this conversation.
Why Traditional Exercise Advice Fails Us
For a healthy person, exercise follows a simple equation:
work out → muscles break down → body repairs → get stronger.
For people with chronic inflammation, that process doesn’t work the same way.
Take strength training. When you lift weights, muscle fibers tear, triggering micro-inflammatory events. The fibers repair so as to be able to cope with the demands next time. This is how strength is built up—but if your body already has a chronic background of inflammation, this small stressor can tip the scales into a full-body flare.
And it’s not just about what happens during exercise—it’s about what happens after:
How do you recover when your body doesn’t bounce back like a healthy person’s?
What if you have to go straight to work afterward—with no time to rest?
How do you build strength when a single miscalculation can set you back for days?
We’re often left to figure it out ourselves—experimenting through avoidable pain, trial and error, and frustration.
What I’ve Learned from My Own Journey
For years, I felt like I was doing exercise “wrong.” I’d start a new routine, flare up, stop, and repeat the cycle. A bit like Sisyphus pushing his rock up a hill—only to get crushed every time it rolled back down.
Why was I forcing my body through something so punitive just to be “stronger” and “fitter”? By whose standards? The mainstream fitness industry? The latest wellness trend?
This is especially hard when you come from a competitive sports background—or even just an active lifestyle. If you’ve internalised the idea that strength is built through pain and exertion, it’s difficult to accept that this doesn’t apply to your body anymore.
One of the biggest shifts in my perspective came from Daniel Lieberman’s book, Exercise. It debunked the idea that we need to work out every day to be healthy.
Humans evolved to move in cycles—balancing activity with rest.
Modern fitness culture pushes constant progression, but that’s not how bodies naturally function.
That’s when I stopped chasing a one-size-fits-all fitness routine and started listening to how my body actually responds to exercise.
Because the key isn’t just exercising more—it’s exercising smarter.
Finding What Works: Lessons from the Community
Over the past year, I’ve spoken to many people in the InflamMed community who are trying to navigate these challenges. Some have found ways to build strength on their own terms—sometimes requiring huge lifestyle adaptations that aren’t realistic for everyone.
Take Nadine Heir, for example. She loves powerlifting, but to make it work, she’s had to reshape her entire life:
Moving to Mexico provided her with better healthcare access
Switching to freelance work so she can manage recovery time
Finding a personal trainer who understands chronic illness
These changes have allowed her to train without compromising her health. (Listen to her podcast episode here.)
Others have found softer approaches, like yoga or pilates—not because they’re “easier,” but because they provide a different way to build strength that is less likely to trigger a flare.
And then there are some who never liked exercise to begin with.
For some, simply walking briskly to the bus stop, climbing stairs, or doing housework is more than enough activity. The idea of adding a fitness programme on top of everything else? It feels like a double punishment.
No matter our backgrounds though, we all share one thing:
We’re left to experiment on our own to find what works—with no roadmap, no guidance, and a lot of unnecessary pain along the way.
So, Is There a Better Way?
What if instead of pushing through generic exercise plans, you could:
Recognise early warning signs of a flare before it happens
Find the right type of movement for your body on any given day
Balance exercise and recovery so you don’t keep crashing
Build sustainable physical habits that work with your body—not against it
The key to long-term successful and productive exercise with chronic inflammation isn’t about doing more, pushing harder, or forcing consistency onto a body that cannot adjust to such methods.
It’s about learning how your body responds, working with it, not against it.
Because our bodies aren’t broken—they just operate outside the mainstream model. They require a different approach—one that demands flexibility, adaptation, and constant recalibration.
What Comes Next?
If this resonates with you, you’re not alone.
We’re starting a conversation about rethinking exercise for people with chronic inflammation—and we want to hear from you.
What have you struggled with when trying to stay active? What’s worked (or not worked) for you? Drop your thoughts in the comments or join the discussion in the InflamMed community—where we’re exploring new ways to make movement actually work for people like us.
Because the truth is, exercise should help you feel better—not worse. We need to learn how to listen to our bodies.