Risky Exercise

I saw a comment this morning on my commute biking post.  The comment mentioned warm weather and implied that this would make biking impractical.  I gave my own answer in a follow up comment but I wanted to expand on that answer a bit.  First of all, thank you to the reader for leaving this comment, there’s always something I may have overlooked and it’s good to be reminded of it on occasion.

Now, let me make what I said in the comment a bit clearer. I don’t believe that warm weather should be an impediment to biking to work. You can bike early in the morning or late enough in the evening to avoid much of the heat. Showers at work can also help for those of you who are like me, and tend to sweat. That said, exercising in extreme weather does pose a health concern and that’s what I wanted to talk about today.

Exercise And Injury

There’s always the risk of injury when exercising, that’s just part of moving about.  The more you move about the more you increase your chance of falling, twisting your ankle or straining a muscle.  Sitting on the couch has very little risk compared to jogging for example.  Still, I believe exercise and being active is worth it because the extra risk you incur is more than outweighed by the health benefits.  However, there’s a point at which the extra risk becomes too high and that’s the point at which you should stop exercising and start resting.

When Is Risk Too High?

I can think of many cases where the risk of exercise is too high.

• Strenuous exercise when you have a medical condition – If you know you have a heart condition, you shouldn’t be working out without consulting with a doctor.  You may be improving your overall health but you’re also straining your heart.  Same goes for lifting weights when you know you have some kind of joint or muscle issue.  If you have a medical condition, talk to a doctor before you exercise.
• Strenuous exercise under poor conditions – Weather is a good example.  I’m willing to bike when it’s 100 degrees outside but only if I bring water and only for short rides (less than 5 miles).  If it was 120 degrees outside, I would probably rethink my biking idea.  Same goes for the cold.  I biked to work in New England when it was 0 degrees, but I drove when it was snowing because biking in a blizzard is just silly.
• Lifting weights with bad form – Using bad form is not just bad exercise, it’s also a higher injury risk.  Those folks you see in the gym swinging weights around and getting their whole body involved in a simple weight lifting exercise?  They’re just being stupid.  They’re not getting a good workout and they’re placing themselves at a much higher risk of injury.
• Continuing to exercise when you’re injured – I’m guilty of this one.  You feel a pain and you know you should stop working out but you keep going anyway because you tell yourself to be tough and hang in there.  Guess what, that’s the wrong approach.  Exercising with an injury is going to aggravate the injury, not make it better or make it go away.  Yes, not all pains are injuries and you should learn to tell the difference between a temporary ache and pain which signals an injury, but don’t take chances.
• Too much sun – Quite a few physical activities are outdoors which means exposure to the sun, which also means sunburn.  For those of you who still associate a tan with health, I have bad news, a tan is not healthy.  A tan is a signal that you have exposed your body to too much sunlight.  A sunburn is even worse and significantly increases your chances of skin cancer later in life.  If you’re going to be in the sun for any length of time, use sunscreen if possible.  A small exposure to sunlight (10 minutes or so) is fine and can even be healthy but anything longer is bad without sunscreen.
• Bad equipment – Poor exercise equipment has been the cause of many an injury.  That could mean broken machines at the gym or poor running shoes when jogging.  Either way, if you’re going to use equipment, make sure it’s safe.

How To Judge When A Risk Is Too High?

Unfortunately, I can’t tell you that.  Sometimes it’s obvious, like jogging with a heart condition.  Sometimes it’s not so obvious, like how to tell when your shoes are bad for running.  When in doubt, check.  There are a variety of resources on exercise, from physical trainers and doctors to online sites and books.  For example, there are sporting goods stores with professionals that will help you find the right shoe for your foot.  It’s far better to check in advance than it is to spend 3 months recovering from an injury that could have been avoided, believe me, I learned that one the hard way.

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Just remember, you’re exercising for the health benefits.  If the risk of injury outweighs those health benefits, then you’re doing something wrong.