I have been forced to accept the the fact that recovery from Pneumonia is a very, very slow and arduous process. I have a few suggestions for you, but please check with your doctor before trying anything I suggest.

The first thing I did after getting out of the hospital was lean on everything I could lean on to help me stand. I was that weak.

Gradually, over the course of 1-2 weeks, I forced myself to start taking small trips to my car and back. Then, I gradually increased the distance until I was walking 100 feet in one direction, taking a break at the turn around point, and then after I caught my breath I headed back in the other direction. I continued to do this for weeks on end. Progress was very slow, and very incremental. I think it is really hard not to get discouraged here, but you must not allow yourself to give up.

Don’t start taking steps until you can walk 100 feet in one direction.

Once you can walk some distance, start picking some small fights of steps to practice with. This is what I did. Steps were my nemesis! They were so very hard.

I did not go into the gym until I could walk steps, and once I was able to walk some steps I located a gym that offered medical programs to help people recover from illness. These programs are easy, but increase slowly in difficulty over time. If the local health club in your area works closely with a hospital, then they will most surely have a medical program.

The one thing I would not do is get into aerobics right away. Give yourself several weeks before you start doing class-aerobics again.

Get back to me if you have other questions.

Tim

First let me say that I am sorry you have had such a tough challenge the past two months. Being sick takes a huge toll emotionally as well as physically. So, I will support you in prayer as well as here with whatever wisdom I have to offer.

In my experience, you can battle back from Pneumonia, but it requires patience and determination, with a focus on light exercise at first, with the goal of increasing intensity and volume of exercise gradually over the course of several weeks. This has worked well for me.

Common sense would suggest that you drink plenty of water, get plenty of rest, consume added levels of glutamine for recovery and avoid foods that increase levels of mucous as much as possible for the time being.

By way of further encouragement, consider this story:

7 weeks ago I was admitted to the hospital with a bowel obstruction that nearly killed me. I lost 20 lbs during the week I was there. I lost muscle firmness and I lost an UNBELIEVABLE amount of strength and stamina!!!! I mean HUGE! I was barely able to walk for 3-4 weeks after I got out of the hospital. Moreover, I contracted bronchitis during my stay and had to deal with THAT, along with CF once I got out of the hospital!!! I was so discouraged.

But the first thing I did was get back to the gym within a few days of being released. I did very little in terms of weight. I just wanted to focus on getting my endurance back. Moreover, I was so weak I could not handle any weight if I had tried. As an example, I was barely able to bench press 95 lbs. In addition, whenever I walked, I felt woozy. I had sea legs, and felt wobbly.

Well, 8 weeks after first going into the hospital, I am feeling strong, regaining my weight and looking like myself again. So, the short answer to your question is YES….you WILL be fit again.

My advice is to keep your doctor in the loop while you make plans to get back to the gym as soon as you can.

Use VRY light weight to work out with, and focus on small sets, with moderate reps of say 10-20 at first, with am emphasis on the high-end range of your rep scheme. Do not push to hard. Over the course of 4-6 weeks increase your weights, begin to lower your rep schemes to a scheme you feel more comfortable with so that by the 6th week you are training in the 8-10 rep range.

In terms of exercises to play with I would recommend these:

Bench Press
Squats
Stiff Leg Dead Lifts
Dips and
Chins

Train 2 times per week the first 2 weeks. Increase to 3 times per week by the 3rd week. Keep your workouts simple and brief, with 2-3 work sets for each exercise.

That is a good place to start. That is what I did.

Finally, as I mentioned, keep your doctor in the loop. Ask him if this plan seems reasonable to him. Get a second opinion. Do not try my suggestion before you talk to your doctor. Just run it by him first.

How does that sound?

PS: If this helps you, would you be so kind as to make a donation to this site? You do not have to, but it sure would go a long way to helping me continue to improve its content.

God Bless

Thanks