Signs You Should Stop Exercising

The more you adapt to the fitness lifestyle the more in tune you are with your body. By the routine dieting and exercising day in and day out, you are supplying your body with a consistent input. This consistent input gives you a better understanding of how you should be feeling during a certain activity (Exercising, Eating, Digesting, Resting, etc.). If you at all feel different this is when you need to take a step back and evaluate what’s different with your routine.

In the case of exercising, because how varying our workouts are (Upper Body, Cardio, Calisthenics, Lower Body, HIIT, etc.), it could be difficult to identify if and when you’ve pushed yourself too far. Now this doesn’t mean we just allow these things to sneak up on us before it’s too late. As a matter of fact, most of us will experience these signs at one point in our fitness journeys. The important thing is to understand them and have the strength and willpower to say “that’s enough for today.”

Below are signs that we’ve come across personally, and since we are still here to tell you them, we suggest you take a break if you ever feel any of these.

Symptoms To Look Out For:

• Muscle Cramping (Uncontrollable muscle contractions)
• Muscle Seizing (Can’t move a muscle)
• Face Numbness
• Light Headed-ness
• Shortness of Breath (Hyperventilation, NOT out of shape breathing)
• Tunnel Vision (Not to be confused with focus…you literally have a tunnel of vision)
• Heat Exhaustion (From exercising outdoors or wearing sweat inducing clothes)
• Excessive Sweating
• Tired (Not like “well I’ve really had a good workout” tired, more like Fall asleep tired, yawning, etc.)
• A Sensation of Feeling Cold (When you really shouldn’t be)
• Numbness
• Dehydration (Dry mouth, Loss of ability to sweat, Insatiable craving for water)
• Head Ache
• Open Cuts (Don’t be that person)
• Nausea

Now, feeling these symptoms may subside. Don’t just drop everything and leave for feeling these (or thinking you feel them).  If you know your body well enough and don’t feel like you can take anymore then of course call it a day, otherwise, take a break for about half an hour and see if the sensation subsides. Go get in the air conditioning, get in a lot of water or some sort of sport drink (non caffeine), and just sit down. If after half an hour you don’t feel any better, then that’s it for today. If you feel good enough to exercise, then go exercise but TAKE IT SLOWLY. However, if any of these signs come back then you’re done. Go home, and get some rest; congratulations, you’ve just pushed your body out of its comfort zone.  Cheers to getting stronger!

The important thing is to understand these symptoms and have the strength and willpower to say “that’s enough for today.”