(EDITOR’S NOTE - This is the second of a special two-part Fitness Master column dedicated to the coronavirus and some ways to handle the mental and physical obstacles that it has created in our lives.)

By KEVIN KOLODZIEJSKI

KOLO@PTD.NET

You read about it all the time. A severe preseason injury forces a professional baseball, football, or basketball player to say sayonara to the upcoming season.

And every now and then, you read in an article years later how the athlete now - with an emphasis on “now” - sees a silver lining to much of the bad that supposedly resulted from the injury.

How sitting out a full season did more than give him time to heal. How it provided an opportunity to see the game differently, increased his love for the game, forced him to become physically and mentally stronger.

Shrewd reader, I’m sure, you now know why today’s column begins with this scenario and yesterday’s ended with words Ralph Waldo Emerson first published 183 years ago: “This time, like all times, is a good time, if we but know what to do with it.”

It’s because in this cock-eyed and off-kilter coronavirus-ridden world, the right stories and the right words just might provide the proper perspective. And if you’re anything like me, you’ve been searching high and low these past few weeks to find that.

Let the injury anecdote serve as a signpost and Emerson’s words be your light source as you move forward. In fact, when you really regard the latter, it provides greater illumination than a headlamp and two lanterns.

That’s because, oddly enough, no matter how life-altering, no matter how unsettling, this strange, surreal, science-fiction-like time really is a good time. If - and it’s an immense “if”- we know what to do with it.

While you may already know what I’m about to suggest, allow me to be clear: Take some of the extra time afforded to you by the coronavirus shutdown to amplify the time and intensity of your workouts.

We all know the end result of doing so (even if we don’t know the end date of the virus, let alone the shutdown). You’ll add muscle, lose fat, and function better.

But just as importantly - and beginning immediately - you’ll feel at least a bit better about the current situation.

Trust me on this. One of the most disconcerting feelings created by the coronavirus is loss of control.

Part of this is a product of the American mindset. We don’t like being told when and where we can do things, when and where we can go, much less that we can’t do or go at all.

In the great USA, individual control is really the fourth fundamental belief along with life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

By increasing the length and the intensity of your workouts in this troubling time, you take a bad situation and make the best of it. Any time you do that, you gain a bit of control.

As a result, during that time you’re working out and in that oh-so-tranquil exercise afterglow afterwards, things just won’t seem quite as bad.

I don’t know your current physical condition and preferred form of exercise, so this article will not offer amplified workouts for you to do. In fact, that would be foolish since you can find and view hundreds of exercise options simply by searching the internet.

What the remainder of this column needs to do is provide the rationale (and maybe the motivation) for you to dust off that stationary bike or pull out those dumbbells in storage and get going. Or for you to keep doing what you already do with more fury and focus.

But honestly you shouldn’t need words from me to do either if you feel even a bit anxious about the coronavirus. For what is anxiety really?

A never-ending nervous feeling. A racing heartbeat. Rapid breathing.

Sounds a lot like adrenaline to me. And you know what adrenaline is.

Incredible energy.

So if you are anxiety ridden over the coronavirus - or any facet of your life, really - tune in and tap into it. Use it for all it can provide.

Work out harder and harder. Push yourself. Really push yourself. Because guess what?

It may sound a bit selfish, but it’s universally true. It’s hard to feel too bad about the world when you feel so good about yourself.

So I urge you to use your increase in free time to increase your workouts. Along with a hot shower, a steaming mug of coffee, and eating your favorite comfort food, giving your all in a workout is one of the greatest feelings you can experience every single day of your life.