Cried, recalling exercises restrained by weight (4)
I believe the answer is:
wept
'cried' is the definition.
('weep' can be a synonym of 'cry')
'recalling exercises restrained by weight' is the wordplay.
'recalling' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'exercises' becomes 'pe' (Physical Education class).
'restrained by' indicates putting letters inside.
'weight' becomes 'wt'.
'pe' in reverse letter order is 'ep'.
'ep' put into 'wt' is 'WEPT'.
(Other definitions for wept that I've seen before include ""Jesus ___" (St John's Gospel, xi. 35)" , "Exclude, prohibit" , ""Jesus __" (shortest verse in the King James Bible)" , "Sobbed heavily" , "Cried, sobbed" .)