What Happens When You Can’t Exercise?

If you exercise regularly, you’ve probably hit one of these roadblocks before: a sprained ankle that keeps you from running, an illness that keeps you out of the gym, or a bigger injury that requires rehab or surgery and a rethink of your whole fitness routine. When your routine shifts, the rest of your day tends to shift with it. You may sit more, eat more, and possibly gain weight. The drop in endorphins, combined with the changes you see in the mirror, doesn’t help either, and it’s not unusual to feel down when this happens.

How to Stay Active During Recovery

If you have an injury, your first stop should be your doctor or another healthcare professional, not self-diagnosis. From there, a physical therapist is the right expert to recommend low-impact exercise you can safely continue with an injury, since their training and understanding of how the injury happened is key to prescribing the right recovery exercises. Staying as active as possible matters too. If it’s appropriate for your injury, a physical therapist can design a pool-based program that keeps you moving without added strain.

It also helps to stick to your regular schedule as much as you can. If you normally exercise at specific times, like Monday and Wednesday mornings or every evening after work, use those same hours for something else productive, like meditation or reading, while you recover. Keeping the schedule intact makes it easier to slide back into exercise once you’ve healed. And since prevention is the best medicine, working out with real awareness of your body and its limits helps you avoid these setbacks in the first place.

Smart Habits That Help You Avoid the Next Injury

• Know your limits and don’t push through pain. Pain is a good signal to stop the activity.
• Avoid playing sports or exercising when you’re very tired or already in pain.
• Always stretch and warm up first. Hold each stretch for 20 to 30 seconds without bouncing, and keep your feet flat rather than twisting your knees. Warm muscles are less prone to injury.
• Wear shoes that fit properly and provide good shock absorption and stability.
• If you’re starting a new sport or activity, build up gradually. Doing too much too soon, including packing a week’s worth of activity into a single weekend, raises your risk of injury.
• Run on soft, flat surfaces instead of asphalt or concrete, and keep in mind that running uphill adds extra stress to your Achilles tendon and legs.
• Train specifically for your sport. A physical therapist can help you figure out which conditioning exercises fit your particular activity.
• Rest. Athletes who train too many consecutive days without a break see more injuries. Rest actually makes you stronger and helps prevent injuries from overuse, fatigue, and poor judgment.

The best advice is to listen to your physical therapist and your body. Twinges and sharp pains are a sign to slow down, and paying attention to them now makes for a smoother return to activity later.