When Should You Stop Exercising?

I sometimes have clients ask me if they should stop exercising or coming to Pilates because they have an injury of some kind. Usually it’s something like a sore back that is acting up, and while they may need to see a chiropractor, massage therapist, or other practitioner, in most cases the best idea is to keep moving. The days when you were told to stay still and rest while your body healed are long gone.

Motion is Lotion

Yes, an injury, accident, or even surgery may require you to pause your regular exercise activities for a while. But even after a major surgery like a hip replacement, they have you up and moving the next day. This is because we now know that movement helps with healing by increasing circulation and building back strength, mobility, and flexibility. Movement actually helps shorten hospital stays! 

Physical therapy very much works in the same way; helping you to safely move your body to get things back to where they should be. Even massage therapy “moves” your muscles to relieve pain. As you heal, you can slowly work your way back to more intensity, heavier loads, and more advanced movements. 

Those Pesky Every Day Pains

Even if you haven’t had a major blow to your physical activity that requires medical intervention, you can still apply the same logic to every day aches and pains. In fact, a lot of these show up because of a lack of varied movement or you do something repetitively that has caused an imbalance. 

Usually these pains have been creeping up over many months or even years. It could be because you sit a lot for your job, run daily, wear high heels regularly, or golf three days a week. Moving your body will actually help, and something gentle like Pilates provides a great combination of strength, stretching and mobility to help you fix the imbalances and ease those aches and pains. 

Special Situations

If you are pregnant, have a chronic condition, or are in some other special situation, please talk to your doctor about what is best for your health and if you should stop exercising. However, given what we know now about movement, it’s very likely that exercise will be encouraged.

Pregnancy: If you were already doing Pilates prior to getting pregnant, it is safe to continue coming to class. Pilates teachers are taught a lot about modifications for pregnancy, and some even specialize in this area.

Chronic Conditions: If you have a chronic condition, there are many ways that Pilates can be modified to suit you. There may be modifications, less intense movements, or you may need to slow down and take breaks. Private sessions may be the best in some cases to fully customize and support you through the workout. In other cases, clients can manage well as part of a small group class. 

Just Keep Moving

Over the past twenty years, I’ve learned a lot by watching and listening to clients. Those who come once a week and occasionally miss a class could go ten days between Pilates sessions. These are the ones who often have sore backs, tight shoulders, and progress a lot slower. Then there are those who come two or three days a week religiously. The latter are the people who comment on how good they feel – and how they really notice when they’ve missed a class. 

I’ve also seen clients bounce back from surgery, heal from overuse injuries, and who one day exclaim that their back finally doesn’t ache any more. I love watching people discover what Pilates and movement can do for them. It really does change everything.