I love sports. And working out. When I joined, I was fit, but I didn’t work out much. Now I do it four times a week. I used to not understand what people meant when they said they loved working out and doing sports because of the “runner’s high” they got from it. Now I get that whenever I go to practice. But there comes a time when you have to lay the grips (or cleats, gloves, pads, etc.) down and take a break.
There are two main reasons to take a break from a sport. It could be from injury or from just plain boredom. Either way there is a way to fix this dilemma.
If you are injured, follow the doctor’s instructions to a tee. If the doctor says you can’t play the sport for six weeks, you can’t play the sport for six weeks. Now this does not mean that you can’t go to practice. If you are like me and cannot live without any physical exertion, you can still go and take advantage of their equipment — just work out for the whole practice. Now, if practice is three hours long, only go for half so as to not kill yourself with push-ups. If you have an arm injury there is a large percentage of exercises that you can take part in. Really anything that has to do with legs and/or abs will do. Running laps works, as does sit-ups, sprints, or squats.
Backs are a bit more difficult. You can do some leg conditioning, as long as it does not include bending or exerting your back muscles. Squats are a great example of these. You can also partake in certain arm condition techniques. Pull-ups are great, as are push-up as long as you don’t bend your back (this causes great form!)
If you have a leg injury, it becomes a bit more difficult. If it is an ankle, you can do ab or arm conditioning. If it is a knee or groin muscle, ab condition becomes more difficult, especially for groin injuries. If you have an injured knee, you can still do hollow holds, but not with a groin injury. Either way you can do push-ups, pull-ups, any sort of arm conditioning you like.
If you are simply bored with the sport, try just taking a week off. If you truly enjoy the sport, you will know this as you will crave to go back. If you do not feel this, it might be time to try another. If this means tackling two sports at once, I suggest doing so cautiously. But first, go back to the sport for a while and remember why you liked the sport in the beginning. This little spark may cause another huge engulfment of flames of enjoyment.
There you have it. And now you understand why I have been able to do gymnastics for my whole life practically. Yes, I have had times where I have considered quitting or even have quit, but in the end gymnastics always came through as what I truly wanted to do.