Should I take a break from exercising?

fitat49

fitat49

Cathlete
Hi Ladies, I just completed Cathe's April 2011 rotation and on my second week of Cathe's July 2010 rotation which is alot of Cardio and endurance workouts. My question is, is my body trying to tell me something because my legs back and knees are killing me. I'm wondering if maybe I need a few days off but it's so hard for me to do that because I don't want to gain weight or lose muscle. Would appreciate anyones input. Thanks, Lori :)
 
Please listen to your body. Don't be stubborn (like me) & learn the hard way. Take up to a week or two to dial it down a bit, do low to no impact cardio, & tons of stretching. Stretch max is awesome, and personally, when injured, I stretch as many days as possible (5-6/wk, usually). Particularly focus on stretching/strengthening what hurts, a foam roller is a nice tool to have in this case. Once you do start feeling better, take care to ease back into the workouts rather than just diving in head first. It would be terrible to re-injure something that hasn't completely healed yet. I learned this the hard way, was rehabilitating my Achilles, thought I felt great and went straight back into high intensity jumping drills, only to end up even worse than I was with the original injury.

Also, the back and knees often signify a foot problem. Are you wearing supportive enough shoes for your specific activity? Do you over-pronate (flat-foot)? Are you doing a lot of jumping on a not-so-shock absorbent surface?
 
A few days off, even a week really should not result in weight gain or muscle loss, however to keep your momentum, as the above poster mentioned, try walking instead or swimming if you have a pool available to you, and/or maybe do some upper body workouts to give your knees and legs a break. I think just about every Cathe dvd with weights has an upper body mix.

If you are in pain, there is a reason. Personally, I would just relax for about 2 days, see how you am feeling, then proceed with a gentler workout, or just upper body, until the pain subsides.

I hope you feel better soon!
 
Take it from me, if you think your bod is talking- listen!! hey, even two weeks off is nothing! Your bod will thank you and you won't gain if you watch it. If I would have listened to mine---I might not have gotten injured and end up sitting on my bootay for at least 6 weeks and typing with one hand!!!
 
Thanks so much ladies for all ur advice. Ur right I really should listen to my body. I do walk on hard floors all day and have good shoes but I think they are getting wore out so may have to invest in some that could be part of the problem too. But a few days off does sound good! Thanks again, Lori
 
tralaiven said:
Take it from me, if you think your bod is talking- listen!! hey, even two weeks off is nothing! Your bod will thank you and you won't gain if you watch it. If I would have listened to mine---I might not have gotten injured and end up sitting on my bootay for at least 6 weeks and typing with one hand!!!
Click to expand...

Tralaiven is right! I actually had a question regarding muscle mass because I took 2 weeks off from working out & I lost 4 lbs I thought I lost muscle mass but per SNM you will not loose muscle mass for 2 weeks off exercising.
 
Well I failed!! I took one day off. Tried to do Rythmic step tonight on just one riser and after 40 minutes I felt weak, tired and was sweating buckets!! I will give it another try to stay off exercise and recover.... Wish me luck :D
 
Hi Lori, I just wanted to add my two cents here. Please take the time off your body needs to recover. I was in a similar circumstance as yourself and I continued to push myself and the results were disastrous. I got to the point that I was so weak that I COULD NOT work out if I wanted to. I was in constant pain, suffered from insomnia, and was very depressed, yet obsessed with working out. Your body is giving you warning signs for a reason. The more you work out in your current condition, the deeper you're digging yourself in. I ended up having to take a couple of months off. Good luck to you and keep us posted!:)
 
Sherry, Thank you so much for ur advice. I know ur right and I need to take a break. Besides everything else I just found out I have tennis elbow!! I will keep you updated. Thanks again. Lori :)
 
Good luck to you, Lori, and good luck with your elbow! I know taking time off seems impossible, especially when you're in an overtrained state, but it's absolutely essential. Keep everyone posted; we all care!:D:D
 
Hi Ladies, Well I took my usual day off on Tuesday and yesterday I took off mostly because I wasnt home all day and trying not to exercise tonight. Quite frankly struggling with it, even though my legs and knees feel better just after taking the couple days off already. But don't want to get myself down for not exercising. :-(
 
I used to have that problem quite often when I would do too much on one day (and of course I didn't want to take a day off the next!). I have found that if I make a point to stretch good on the day I work out hard, it REALLY helps with me not feeling so tired and drained the next day. I use Stretch Max and I also have the beginner stretch DVD that is really good. But also listen to your body, because sometimes you just might have to take a day or two off.

Julie
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Our Newsletter

Get awesome content delivered straight to your inbox.

Top