When To Bail On Your Workout!

Exercising is a great idea most of the time, but there are exceptions when it’s better to play your get-out-of-gym card. Let our expert guide help you decide.

- Sara Angle

You’re way overcaffeinated

GIVE YOURSELF A PASS Although having some caffeine in your system before a workout may improve your athletic performance – the chemical can stimulate your central nervous system to give you more juice – when you’re over caffeinated, you may feel dizzy, jittery, nervous or even experience some stomach problems. Add in exercise and those symptoms can become exacerbated, explains Edward Ryan, an assistant professor of exercise science at Chatham University.

Plus, being hopped-up on caffeine may actually impair your recovery during high-intensity exercise, because your heart rate isn’t slowing to its usual recovery level during rest intervals.

Instead of revving your body on high, head for a stroll, keeping your heart rate below 60 per cent of your max effort. You won’t be able to walk off the physical jitters – burning calories won’t help your body metabolise the caffeine any faster – but moving at that easy pace will at least give you a hit of mental calm.

Your stomach is empty, or you just ate a huge meal

SWEAT IT OUT Unless you typically experience stomach cramping, light-headedness or nausea when working out on an empty or full stomach, exercise can actually benefit you, says Brittany Allman, a sports nutritionist at Florida State University. “We have enough stores of energy to last us through a workout even without food in the tank,” she says. “And running on empty may actually help you burn more fat.”