There are some really bad reasons to walk out of a fitness class, as you can read here. However, every now and then someone leaves for good reasons like these:
You’re hurt.
It might not be something that happened in class–maybe it’s pain from an old injury flaring up again. At any rate, a smart exerciser knows the difference between pain and fatigue and knows it’s not worth fighting through the former. Pain and injury are good reasons to stop exercising immediately, even if that means leaving class early.
You’re sick.
People who love to exercise are usually in a hurry to get back to the gym after an illness. Sometimes you wake up thinking, “Yeah, I think I’m ready, I’m going to give it a try” and in the middle of class you realize, “Well. Nope.” Leave. Please leave. You’ll feel better and I don’t want anyone throwing up on the floor.
You have an honest-to-goodness emergency.
I mean of the sort that really doesn’t crop up that often. Whether you answered your own phone in class or someone from the gym reception comes to get you, yes, by all means yes, you should leave class and take care of it.
You have a big opportunity.
Again, this is that rare case when you’re waiting for a phone call that could come at any minute, so you’ve told the instructor ahead of time that you might have to answer the phone and leave in the middle of class. Go for it!
You’ve reached your limit.
We never know what we can handle until we push ourselves a bit, and if you’re in my fitness class I will always be encouraging you to push yourself. Every now and then, though, our bodies respond to this pushing in a more negative way: maybe you get lightheaded or even nauseas. Sometimes, this can make us feel “weak” and we get the idea that we need to push through it or that it’s embarrassing to leave in this case. Not so. There’s a difference between just being tired and pushing through that and genuinely feeling unwell. You don’t want to black out or get sick in class. Lower your intensity or stop exercising; you’ll know if a rest is enough or if you need to call it a day.
Have you ever had to walk out of a fitness class? Was it for a good reason–or a bad one?