‘Covid broke me physically,’ says Malaika Arora who also reveals that her first workout post-recovery was ‘brutal’
Actress and fitness enthusiast Malaika Arora opened up on Instagram on Monday about the struggles she faced during her recovery from COVID-19 over the last eight months, and how she had felt “broken” when she initially couldn’t go back to her workout routine as well as she used to before contracting the virus.
The 47-year-old actress shared a lengthy, heartfelt note in an Instagram post and started off by talking about how people had assumed that since she was always conscious about fitness, her experience with COVID-19 and recovery may have been easier.
However, that was not the case. Revealing that the disease had “broken her physically,” Malaika wrote, “What defines strength? ‘You’re so lucky,’ ‘It must have been so easy,’ is something I hear regularly. Well yes, I am grateful for a lot of things in my life. But luck played a very small role in it. And easy!? Boy! That, it was not. I tested positive on the 5th of September and it was really bad. Anyone out there calling a COVID recovery easy, is either blessed with great immunity or isn’t aware of the struggles of COVID. Having gone through it myself, ‘Easy’ is not the word I’d choose. It broke me physically.”
Check out her post here:
She also explained the ordeal she had gone through and the massive effort required to carry out even the most trivial tasks. Malaika continued, “Walking 2 steps felt like a herculean task. Sitting up, just stepping out of bed, wanting to stand in my window was a journey in itself. I gained weight, I felt weak, lost my stamina, I was away from my family and more.”
Later, after she tested negative during the end of September 2020, the actress said she continued to feel weak and couldn’t go ahead with her workout the way she used to before the disease. “I finally tested negative on the 26th of September and I was so grateful that I did. But the weakness stayed. I felt disappointed that my body wasn’t supporting how my mind felt. I was afraid that I’d never gain back my strength. I wondered whether I’d even be able to complete one activity in 24 hours,” she wrote.
Malaika went on to talk about how she had stayed hopeful and made progress steadily week after week. She added that she finally feels like herself again after eight months. “My first workout was brutal. I couldn’t do anything well. I felt broken. But Day 2, I got back up and I told myself, I am my own maker. And then day 3 and 4 and 5 and so on. It’s been about 32 weeks since I tested negative and I finally have started to feel like myself again. I'm able to workout the way I used to before I tested positive. I’m able to breathe better and I feel strong both physically and mentally (sic).”
The actress also thanked everyone who had been with her through those trying times and hoped that everyone else infected across the globe too recovered. Malaika said in the post, “The four letter word that pushed me through was HOPE. The hope that it’s all going to be okay, even when it feels like it’s not okay. Thank you to all of you who have been sending me messages, DMs and inspiring stuff which kept my spirits high. But I also pray that the world recovers as well and we all come out of this together.”
On a concluding note, Malaika wrote, “I come out of this phase with 2 words. GRIT & GRATITUDE. Thank you my dearest brother & partner @sarvesh_shashi. Next 30 week phase starts in June! (sic)”