To train the right way and stay healthy, don't ignore your feelings and intuition.
"If you're sick and exercise anyway," says Alice Domar, Ph.D., director of the Mind/Body Center for Women's Health in Boston, "you may accidentally injure yourself or aggravate an illness."
Here are some tips from accomplished athletes and personal trainers on how to know when to opt out of exercising.
"If you're feeling stressed or depressed to the point where it's interfering with your everyday functioning, avoid physically risky sports that involve mental activity and precise movements," says John Kent, a rock climbing instructor and personal trainer based in Seattle. "Take a break from demanding sports such as surfing, rock climbing, skiing and kayaking and practice soothing ones such as walking, lap swimming, gardening or bicycling."
"Never work out when you've got an injury that is causing you pain or limiting your range of movement," says former Olympic diver Martin Zamora, of Tucson, Ariz. Zamora, who competed on the 1984 Chilean Olympic diving team, says, "I know from experience that working out when you have an injury can lead to more physical problems."
Noting that exercising while battling colds and respiratory infections can weaken even a highly conditioned athlete, Zamora urges caution. "If you're ill with a cold, doing an intense workout in water or on land can further stress your body and perhaps leave you vulnerable to infection."
"It may seem obvious, but you should never work out if you have a fever," says personal trainer and yoga teacher Lara Laird, who trains clients in New York and Los Angeles. "I have sent people home from the gym with fevers."
Laird says that she's also dealt with jet-lagged clients who "would be better off having a massage than trying to work out with weights or machines. If you are tired, feel disoriented and are walking slightly off-balance, you need to rest and recharge your batteries."
