Regular exercise is essential for a healthy heart. Regular workouts also improve your brain function, boost your energy levels, regulate your blood sugar, strengthen your muscles, harden your bones, and help you maintain a healthy weight. With all of these benefits, is it ever worth skipping a workout, even when you’re injured? Well, it depends.
Avoid Vigorous Exercise
If you are injured, don’t do anything that will further complicate the injury. Injuries generally need rest in order to heal. This is especially true if something from your workout routine got you into this mess in the first place.
You may need to avoid vigorous exercise for a while. Slow it down, rest your injury, and let your body heal so that you can get back out there at 100% a lot sooner.
Consider the Extent of the Injury
Of course, when it comes to exercising with an injury, there are several key things to consider. The appropriate course of action depends heavily on the type of injury you have. If the injury is mild, you might get away with simply lowering your intensity. Serious injuries might require a complete break from any exercise.
The location of the injury is also an important consideration. For example, if running has caused plantar fasciitis in one or both feet, you might be able to keep exercising simply by changing up what you do. Instead of running or walking, try bicycling or swimming.
Do What the Doctor Orders
When you really want to get back to the gym or hit the pavement you might be tempted to disregard your doctor’s orders. It’s easy to justify non-compliance, especially when you’ve got the internet to tell you whatever it is that you want to hear. However, your doctor is familiar with you and your specific injury, and, believe it or not, they really do have your best interest at heart. They want to see you heal as quickly as possible. Disregarding their instructions could exacerbate the injury and slow healing down even more. If your injury requires a visit to the doctor, pay careful attention to their instructions and follow them strictly.
There’s no doubt about it; injuries are the worst! Not only do they come with a great deal of pain and discomfort, but they cause frustrating setbacks to your fitness goals. No one wants to be benched because of an injury. However, if that’s what you need in order to heal, that’s exactly what you need to do. Don’t risk making things worse by going too hard too soon!
Did you enjoy reading this article? Here’s more to read: How to Maintain a Healthy Relationship With the Gym
