It may sound strange writing a post on skipping workouts on a health and wellness segment given that regular exercise has many health benefits that include mood improvement, minimizing the risk of high blood pressure, cancer and diabetes among others. However, when it comes to fitness, the more you have is not always better. The body needs to rest too. As a matter of fact, over-exercising is as unhealthy as not getting enough exercise.
We all have those days when we would rather relax in our jammies than make our way to the gym. This is usually a bad idea, and we will end up regretting the decision to skip exercise. However, sometimes when you do not feel like working out, the body may be communicating with you.
Here are 6 reasons why you should not go to the gym every day:
1.Your muscles grow when you rest
Lifting weights crafts tiny tears in the muscles that can only repair when you are resting. The repair process helps make your muscles stronger. While it is imperative to work your muscles (hard!) in order to stimulate muscle-building proteins, it is equally important to give the body sufficient time to recover (until you are no longer sore).
2.Sleep deprivation
Sleep is essential for favorable health and well-being. While sleeping the body recharges whilst the brain performs “housekeeping” tasks. Sleep deprivation is accompanied by devastating effects and may result to decline in the ability to perform easy tasks. Moreover, it compromises the immune system. When it is already stressed due to lack of sleep, exercising will only exacerbate the problem. In case you are suffering from lack of sleep, you are better off sleeping for an extra hour rather than exercising. Get some rest and hit the gym another day when you are feeling rested.
3.You are injured
When you are injured, it is good to take some time off if you want to get better. Failure to give the injury sufficient time to heal and recover, would put more strain on it and get you sidelined for even a longer period. Talk to your doctor on the activities you can do with the injury. Modifying workouts might make it feasible for you to continue exercising, but it is important to know the exercises to avoid.
4. If you are burned out
After a workout you will usually feel awesome thanks to the release of feel-good hormones. If you feel exhausted after you have been to the gym, you might be burned out due to overtraining. Just skip a few workouts and give the body time to recover. On some occasions, there is need to take a break in order to re-ignite the fire.
5.Dizziness or nausea
If you are feeling nauseated and dizzy, your body is under stress and there is no reason of adding exercise to the mix. Even when you do not have a fever, if you feel queasy or your stomach is upset, you ought to rest. Learn to listen to the body’s signals rather than trying to push through them.
6. When it is motivated by guilt
Exercising out of shame and guilt is a vicious cycle that will rarely lead to success. Guilt does not work as a basis of lasting motivation. Even if it did (which it does not) it would be a miserable path for someone to take.
So if you are stuck in the cycle of using exercise as a punishment then it might be helpful to skip workouts when you are heading to the gym just because you had dessert the previous night or you “ate too much”. Try to replace it with something else (like repeating positive affirmations, drinking extra water… etc) and go for your workout when it’s no longer motivated by guilt or punishment.
