Exercise is punishment!

Recently Rajnikanth, when talking about Nagarjuna's youthful looks, commented:

“If you don’t punish your body and keep it under control, it will punish you and keep you under its control.”

The line hit me like only a Rajni dialogue can. Because behind the style and swagger was a truth that we don’t like to admit: exercise, in its rawest sense, is punishment. Not the cruel kind, but the disciplinary kind. The kind of punishment you give a wild horse so it learns to obey, not because you want to break it, but because you want to ride it with freedom.

And isn’t that the way discipline always works? Think about kids from wealthy families who are pushed into early-morning swimming practice, strict tennis drills, or martial arts classes. At the time, it feels like punishment. Only later do they realise it was training of not just the body, but of the mind. Once the discipline is internalised, they’re free to choose what they want, but with control on their side.

The struggle for control

Your body isn’t some loyal servant waiting for orders. Left to its own devices, it is lazy. It wants comfort, and it will take it every time. A soft chair over standing, sugar over fasting, scrolling over sweating. And the more you indulge it, the more it learns to call the shots.

At first, you won’t notice. It feels like you’re in control because you’re making the choice to skip a workout or order dessert. But give it time, and the power balance shifts. One day your knees refuse to climb stairs. Your pancreas refuses to manage sugar. Your arteries quietly fill up with plaque. And suddenly, your body is no longer taking orders but starts giving them.

That’s what Rajni meant when he said the body will punish you. And that punishment is far worse than the controlled suffering of exercise.

Punishment with a purpose

Yes, exercise is punishment. When you lift, you tear muscle fibers. When you run, you make your lungs gasp. When you push yourself, you silence the voice in your head that screams, “Stop, I want comfort!”

But unlike disease, this punishment has purpose. Muscles that are torn rebuild stronger. Lungs that are stretched expand capacity. Hearts that are raced become more resilient. Even the brain, pushed out of its comfort zone, adapts with new wiring, sharper focus, and better mood.

It’s not cruelty. It’s submission training. You punish your body in the gym so it doesn’t punish you in life.

A patient story: the body in charge

One of my patients, a 52-year-old businessman, came to me saying he felt like his body was “in charge.” He was constantly tired, his sugars were creeping up, and even climbing one flight of stairs left him breathless.

He wasn’t overweight. He wasn’t “unhealthy” by traditional definitions. But he had stopped moving years ago. His body had grown comfortable. Too comfortable. And now it was dictating terms: “You can work, but you can’t play with your kids. You can eat, but you can’t digest without acidity. You can live, but only on my conditions.”

We started simple: bodyweight exercises, light resistance training, and a short walk after meals. The first few weeks were tough and he described it as “punishing himself.” But within three months, the shift was clear. His sugars dropped. His energy rose. And one day he told me, with a grin, “Doc, I finally feel like I’m in charge again.”

That’s the philosophy in action. Exercise is punishment, yes. But it’s punishment that restores control.

The science of discipline

This isn’t just theatre because the biology checks out. When you move, your muscles act like glucose sponges, pulling sugar out of the bloodstream without waiting for insulin’s permission. That single act, repeated often enough, is what keeps diabetes at bay.

Your mitochondria — the tiny powerhouses that make energy — multiply and become more efficient with every bout of exercise. More mitochondria mean more energy, sharper metabolism, and a body that doesn’t feel like a sluggish old machine.

Your hormones too, fall in line. Cortisol, the stress chemical, comes under control. Testosterone, growth hormone, estrogen - all get tuned to healthier rhythms. Even the brain bathes in BDNF, a compound that acts like fertilizer for neurons, making them sharper and more adaptable.

This is what it looks like when the body is kept under your control.

The philosophy of rebellion

Every workout is a small rebellion against decay. Each rep, each step, each drop of sweat is you saying: “Not today, body. You don’t get to call the shots.”

Because let’s be clear, this is a power struggle! Either you control your body through discipline, or your body controls you through disease. There is no neutral ground.

The real takeaway

So yes, exercise is punishment. I know I'm repeating this! But it’s the kind of punishment that frees you. Not punishment that breaks, but punishment that shapes. You keep the wild animal trained, not because you hate it, but because you need it to serve you, not rule you.

If you don’t do this, the roles reverse. The animal takes charge. And you find yourself obeying pills, doctors, and symptoms for the rest of your life.

Oh, by the way, if you think exercise is punishment, wait till your body punishes you! You'll realize that exercise was an actual walk in the park! But that same exercise will become double difficult at that time to start!