It’s Okay to Take a Break From Working Out

It’s okay to take a break from working out and I will tell you why.  You see, I thought it would be okay to build some muscle while doing my HIIT workouts.  So, I would lose fat but gain muscle.  Therefore, I wasn’t losing ANY weight and that took a toll on my body.

I was a hardcore athlete in high school and I am feeling the effects of it as I get older. It first started with my knees. When I am doing my HIIT workout in the park, I run HARD for 30 seconds and walk for 3 minutes. Then I have to take into consideration my weight.  I’m not huge by any means but I have always had a small frame.  I’m 5 foot 4 inches and currently weigh 153lbs.

This is a problem for me.  I need to lose more weight before I start a strength training regimen. Now, the other issue I had was my back.  While moving a weight, I strained my back.  It’s taken me a couple of weeks to heal from that.  As I write, I’m still not at 100 percent.

With all of these injuries going on, it has made me rethink my approach to losing weight. I was really hard on myself for not doing anything for a couple of weeks. I am human afterall! But, I did have to take a step back and think about what I was doing wrong.  I decided to lay off the weights and concentrate on the HIIT instead. I have already built up enough lean muscle to help with the weight loss, so it will be okay to take a break from strength training.

As of this weekend, I started with my HIIT workout but not running hard like I used to do.  I am doing a jog instead of a run. Of course, I have one knee still acting up but that’s ok. I’ll just use the elliptical machine.

Another thing I am doing is reading the book, The Fast Metabolism.  I have a lot of belly fat that just doesn’t want to budge.  Since I haven’t been able to workout as much, I thought this would be a good way to help keep the weight loss going.  This book was recommended to me by one of the metabolic nutrionists I work with, so I think this is a reliable source.

It’s a great read but I haven’t put it into action just yet but I will soon.  Until then, I will continue to workout and will update you on the progress I make on the book and diet.