Exercise is wonderful for keeping your body in good physical condition. However, there are times when it’s okay to take a break from exercise or change your routine to accommodate your needs.
Illness. Sometimes when you’re suffering from an illness, you need to take a break from your exercise routine. Pushing yourself to exercise when you have an infection can make the infection worse and even cause you to become easily injured.
At the very least, you may need to scale down your workout to fit your strength. For example, if you normally go for a jog, you may want to go for a walk instead or shorten the length of your route.
Injury. When you have a physical injury, you need to treat it with care. For example, continuing to run on a sprained ankle could lead to a fracture. If you have an injury that causes pain to your body, that’s a signal that you need to take it easy.
You may want to take a couple of days off from your exercise routine altogether. However, if you’re bound and determined to continue exercising, you may want to choose activities that won’t affect the injured area.
For example, if you have an injury to your upper body, focus on activities that use only your lower body and vice versa.
How do you make a decision about changing your workout? The best way to make a decision is to talk to your healthcare provider. If you’re being treated for an illness or injury, ask your doctor if you should make changes. He or she will be able to direct you on how much your routine needs to change and for how long.
Working out when you’re sick or injured can have disastrous effects. Instead of keeping you in shape, you can end up making your illness or injury worse. Taking a short break may be all you need to get healthy and be able to jump right back into your routine.
But if you intensify your illness or injury by continuing to work out, you may end up having to take a bigger break.