Are these good reasons to skip exercise today?
1. You're dead.
Yes. Go ahead and skip today's daily exercise. While even a
tiny bit of exercise might have made you feel better yesterday, no amount of
exercise whatsoever is going to make any difference today. You're done!
2. You're up to your
eyeballs on a snow-covered mountain waiting for Ski Patrol to find you and stop
the bleeding.
Yes. Keep breathing, gently, and don't move a muscle.
Exercising increases the heart rate and shortens the time it takes to bleed
out.
3. You're in the
emergency room waiting for the x-ray to see which bones are broken.
Yes. Keep breathing, gently, and don't move a muscle. This
is not the time for "Head Tall," "Spine Lengthening," and
not even "Ab Tightening." Any exercise at all may put one of your nerves
at risk of permanent incapacitation by being severed by the shards of a broken
bone.
4. You're being held
hostage by a gunman in a bank.
Yes. Keep breathing gently, and don't move a muscle. You
don't want to attract attention to yourself by making any sudden motions. You
want to be able to breathe tomorrow, and you can't do that if you are shot dead
today.
5. You are sick in
bed with Ebola.
Yes. Keep breathing, gently, and don't move a muscle.
Exercising increases the heart rate and shortens the time it takes to bleed
out.
6. You are pinned under a desk in a building that has fallen due to
earthquake and you cannot move a muscle, but you are not bleeding and your
bones are not broken.
No. Even if you are not able to move
a single muscle, think about moving your muscles. The latest research shows
that the simple act of thinking about moving a muscle by exercising can improve
muscle strength and maintain a greater level of fitness, even when the muscle
you are thinking about is totally incapacitated.
7. You are sick in bed with anything short of Ebola.
No. You need to keep up your
spirits and keep up your strength. You'll need the extra energy exercise can
afford when you are on your way to recovery.
Keep moving, every muscle
possible, no matter how sick you are. Even just a little bit of motion will
help to avoid muscle atrophy, which can happen faster than you ever thought
possible.
8. Why are you even looking here for a Number 8 on this list?
No! There is not a single reason
not to exercise that we have not already covered. You are still breathing. MOVE
something now!