Michael was running up and down the shrine's stairs with some difficulty as he wasn't allowed to use inner energy or mana, Loki used a technique to block the flow of spiritual energy so that Michael can truly practice without them.
"Before I can teach you any techniques we need to improve your basic physical abilities. As you are now, your reliance on mana and inner energy limits you. I need to train you from the ground up."
Even though Michael has trained his body every day with a normal exercise routine he hasn't done so without unconsciously using his inner energy. Now that his spiritual energy was blocked running up and down the shrine stairs was harder than he expected. After running up and down a few more times his legs felt like they were metal weights that were dragging him down. Still, Michael needed to continue since Loki told him that the only time he can stop running was when he was told to stop.
