Surekha`s Fitness Journey: A Story of Resilience, Recovery, and Transformation
- Sheetal Patil
- Jun 16
- 5 min read
By: Rahul Vaidya
When Surekha started her fitness journey with Netrin in October 4, 2024, she was at a crossroads. At 47, Surekha faced challenges familiar to many - weight gain, disturbed sleep, and the impact of menopause on her metabolism. Surekha had been yoga practitioner in the past but had lost consistency. She knew she needed change but didn’t know where to begin. Fast forward a few months, and Surekha feels more energetic, balanced, and stronger than ever. How did she do it?
During her first coach interaction, Surekha expressed concern about how her body would respond to structured exercise. “I know I need to be active, but I don’t know where to start,” she admitted. The goal was clear: build a sustainable habit, improve her overall health, and help her regain confidence in her body’s ability to adapt.
With this goal in mind, I started with a program which was carefully structured to be approachable and progressive, emphasizing consistency over intensity. A gradual and sustainable program with a balance of three cardio and three strength training sessions per week, ranging from 30 to 40 minutes per session was designed with the primary objective to make fitness a part of her life without adding unnecessary stress.
Tracking Progress: HRV & RHR as Key Indicators
Aligned to her goals and concern areas, 2 metrics Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and Resting Heart Rate (RHR) were identified to be tracked as the fundamental markers of her progress.
HRV (Heart Rate Variability): HRV reflects the variation in time between heartbeats, indicating how well the autonomic nervous system is functioning. An improving HRV trend relates to better recovery, lower stress levels, and improved cardiovascular adaptability. People with low HRV often experience higher fatigue, poor sleep, and difficulty handling stress.
Resting Heart Rate (RHR): A lower RHR indicates that the heart is more efficient and doesn’t need to work as hard to pump blood. A high resting heart rate is often associated with cardiovascular strain and poor fitness levels.
At the beginning of her journey, Surekha’s HRV averaged 25 RMSSD with her resting heart rate averaging around 75 BPM, Fast forward to today, her HRV has improved to an average of 46 RMSSD indicating improved autonomic balance and ability to handle stress. Her RHR has dropped to 58 BPM, clear signs that her cardiovascular system is functioning more efficiently.
Coaching Approach: Structuring a Plan for Long-Term Success
From day one, the emphasis was on progress, not perfection. Rather than overwhelming her with high-intensity workouts, the plan focused on building consistency first. The first few weeks were dedicated to short, manageable workouts simply to help her create space in her daily routine for workouts and exercise.
One of the biggest challenges was adjusting her sleep schedule. Her previous routine had erratic sleeping pattern, leaving her feeling fatigued and sluggish.
Coaching input was centered around resetting her natural body clock - circadian rhythm optimization with:
Encouraging outdoor walks in the morning to align her body clock with sunlight.
Replacing late-night meditation with earlier sleep to allow for full recovery.
Using breathing exercises to reduce bedtime stress and improve sleep quality.
Surekha adopted these suggestions making changes to her lifestyle, resulting in a major breakthrough - “My sleep quality has improved" was her happy feedback.
Training Progression: From Foundational Work to fitness Gains
Surekha’s program evolved over time to ensure steady progress. She was introduced to Zone 2 and Zone 3 training, which were critical in improving her endurance and fat metabolism.
Zone 2 Training: This is a low-intensity effort, ideal for burning fat and improving mitochondrial function. It allowed her to exercise for longer without feeling exhausted, building an aerobic base.
Zone 3 Training: This was introduced after a few weeks to push her endurance further while maintaining control over her breathing and heart rate.
As Surekha became more comfortable with her workouts, the next phase introduced burst workouts with short high-intensity segments in Zone 4 and 5. This ensured she was not just improving endurance but also boosting her metabolism and cardiovascular strength.
Looking back on her journey, Surekha feels a huge transformation:
"I feel active, energetic, calm, light, and balanced throughout the day."
Staying Consistent: Overcoming Challenges
Like many people balancing work, family, and personal health, Surekha faced obstacles in staying consistent: "Other priorities and daily responsibilities made it challenging."
As a Coach, I helped her navigate these challenges by keeping workouts flexible and adaptable, ensuring she could still make progress even on busy days. Her 91% workout adherence rate over training duration averaging 31 minutes per session is a testament to her commitment, proving that consistency matters more than perfection.
Beyond the Scale: A New Perspective on Fitness
Coach connect calls were the bridge, helping me understand how she felt about the journey as well as an opportunity to explain and educate how and why these changes were happening and the science behind them. Despite focusing on weight loss when she first started, Surekha realized that true progress is about more than just numbers:
"My weight has been consistent since October. But now, I am much more flexible and feel lighter and my focus and confidence have improved. Stress and irritation have reduced."
This shift in perspective of measures of health improvement formed a key part of her sustainable fitness.
| Oct-24 | Feb-25 | Observation |
HRV | 25 RMSSD | 46 RMSSD | 84% |
Resting Heart Rate | 75 BPM | 58 BPM | 22.6% |
Sleep Quality and Duration |
| Improved | |
Confidence |
| Improved | |
Stress |
| Reduced |
Final Thoughts
Surekha’s experience highlights the difference between training for general fitness vs. performance. Her training wasn’t about pushing limits every day, it was about improving recovery, balancing stress, and building a sustainable habit. Fitness is not just about weight loss, it’s about building resilience, improving heart health, and feeling better every day.
Surekha’s journey is inspiring, not just because of her results, but because of the mindset shift she experienced along the way.
Her advice to others who are just beginning their fitness journey:
"Start small, be patient, disciplined, and trust the process. Don’t be your own limitation."
Appendix: Research References
About the Author: Coach Rahul is a senior coach with Netrin specializing in heart rate zone-based training, health and lifestyle training and endurance coaching. At Netrin Sports Tech, he helps athletes and beginners optimize their performance through structured, science-backed training plans. With expertise in injury prevention, rehabilitation, and physiological coaching, Rahul focuses on building long-term fitness and recovery strategies tailored to individual needs.
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