4 Instances You Should Skip Your Workout

Last week I decided to do something that I pretty much never do: take an entire week off from working out.

I had been exercising pretty hard, and my nagging calf and foot injuries were bothering me, so I knew that at least a few days of rest was necessary. With a 4-day trip to Miami coming up, I decided it was the perfect time to give my body a rest from working out for a solid week. Besides a very mellow yoga session one morning, walking around a decent amount in Miami, and taking my pup for walks once I got home, I got little exercise all week.

Everyone has a different exercise balance that works for them. Me? I’m somewhat of a fitness freak. Typically I train 6 days a week, with one of those days being something low-impact, like a long yoga session. I switch up my routine a lot and love working out. To me, it’s challenging and fun, and if I don’t workout for a few days, I start to get an itch to move.

I’m definitely a no excuses kind of person, and I prioritize my workouts as something that’s simply built into my schedule as a must-do. I skip a workout here or there, but 99% of the time, if I plan on working out, I do. I think that this mentality works out well for me in life, but it can also hinder me because I have a hard time taking a rest. But what I’ve realized is that there are excuses to not workout, and then there are legitimate reasons. Sometimes it’s more beneficial to your health to rest up, and here are 4 instances when that’s the case:

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1.) When you’re under the weather. This one definitely depends on what the sickness is and how crappy you really feel. I find that lower impact workouts are sometimes the best thing to do if you aren’t feeling like hell parked on your couch, but you also don’t feel 100% and don’t want to completely drain all of your energy working out.

Coincidentally, I’m a little under the weather right now. My allergies were acting up in Miami and I lost my voice due to the loud clubs, cigarette smoke (so gross!) and lack of sleep, and in the last few days, I’ve had upper respiratory congestion going on. Having a cold can be hit or miss. Yesterday was my first day back since my one week hiatus, so in the morning I did a 30-minute HIIT working and felt fine. However, as the day went on, I started to feel more wiped out, so I opted out of the tennis session that my hubby and I had played on doing together.

So, when you aren’t feeling your best, you just have to use your best judgment and determine if it’s better for your body to move and sweat, or to get some R&R.

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2.) When a nagging injury is tweaking. If you have weak spots in your body that are injury prone, they tend to act up if you’re overusing them and putting too much stress on the given area. In this case, it’s best to give yourself a break to recover.

I definitely notice that when I hike a lot or do a lot of high impact exercise, my foot’s sesamoiditis acts up. If I scale back for a few days on exercise where my foot is put under a lot of stress, I feel better.

3.) When you’re sleep deprived. If you’re a morning exerciser, it’s tempting to hit that early AM snooze button, but is there a time when it’s better to stay in bed? I say yes. Sure, most of us skimp on sleep sometimes, but if you’ve had a particularly stressful week and/or have gotten lackluster nights of sleep all week, it might be more beneficial to your body to get that extra hour of sleep than workout. You have to look at the bigger picture of health and decide if getting those extra zZz’s is your healthier choice.

4.) When you’re ridiculously sore. All of us exercisers have been there: You wake up and roll over, and the first thing you think is, “Oh my gawdddd I am SO SORE!!” While sometimes you have the option to avoid further stressing your sore muscles and focusing on other body parts, if you’re all-around sore, I say skip your workout. You worked your body really hard, and now those muscles need time to recover.

When I’m super sore, often all I’ll do movement-wise is go on long walks with my dog, stretch and foam roll, and sometimes will do yoga. It feels good to me to move, but not in a way that puts too much stress on my body while my muscles fibers are torn and achy.

When it comes down to it, living healthily is all about listening to your body. If you move often but rest when needed, fuel your body with nutritious food that feels good to you, get the amount of sleep that you run best on, and drink enough water to keep you happily hydrated, chances are you’ll be in good health.

I workout a lot, but I also try to honor how I’m feeling. Taking a week-long break was definitely a good move for me, and at the same time, I was happy to get back to it yesterday. Now if only I can get rid of this upper respiratory congestion… I think I’ll be laying around more than usual this weekend because it’s what my body is needing!

Tell me, how often do you workout? What other instances do you think should be added to this list?