Here I am a personal trainer and we are talking about when NOT to workout. Really? Yep.
I talk a lot to my members about listening to their bodies and being in tune with it. We have been trained to overlook our aches and pains and injuries. After all, we have a lot to do each day and we can’t let anything slow us down. I can tell you that as a former college athlete, we were trained to deal with sore ankles and knees; sore backs; deep bruises from physical contact during games or practice. We would get iced down after games. We had the best trainers around. We were taped up before games. You had to get out on the court and play. That was the bottom line. And, I wanted to, don’t get me wrong. Wild horses couldn’t have stopped me from playing. At one point I even played with a soft cast on my leg after a severe ankle sprain. Anyway, this is not a phenomena just experienced by athletes. We all do it at one time or the other. We tend to ignore those warning signs and push ourselves too hard sometimes.
So, here are some times you should NOT workout:
- Illness: You can probably work through a cold or allergies. But, if you have a temperature or worse, let your body heal and get better. If you push through a workout when you have the flu or a temperature you can get other people sick or make yourself even sicker.
- Injury: If you are recovering from an acute injury like an ACL or miniscus surgery or something similar, please do your rehab as ordered by your Doctor before you jump back into your training routine.
- Sleep Deprivation: It’s one thing if you had one poor night of sleep and you are feeling a bit “draggy”. Your workout will actually help perk you up. But, if you are running on several days of less than 6 – 7 hours of sleep and you try to workout like a fiend, you’ll find yourself flat on your back. Listen to your body.
So, yes, there are times when you must listen to your body and take a workout break for a day or two (Not a week or two). Your body will thank you and your results will be right back on track!
Yours in Health and Fitness,
Tami Haukedahl
www.haukfitness.com
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