Going to the gym when signed off work?

[hunge]

DH thinks this is hugely unreasonable and is shocked I even suggested it … surely it isn’t?

Just to add, if I didnt swim daily, I would be unable to work. I could not sit at a desk all day hunched over a desk, my pain would be through the roof.

I use to work in HR and i would mention pool exercises to any staff member with back problems ...then again I was HR in a private hospital, doctors & surgeons everywhere advising this to our staff too. We had it quite a bit.

Any time I have been able to go to the gym I have been capable of going to work, with reasonable adjustments.

But then I am not a nurse (for e.g) on my feet all day / lifting and bending.

Surely the gym is part of the recovery you need to get better to go back to work?
same as physio etc? I don’t see the issue

Also, speak to your HR ask for a new chair with lumber support & also a foot rest to help with good posture for when you return.

Using the pool while signed off with a bad back is acceptable. Of course it is. I've had back problems, and my physio actually gave me exercises to do in the pool.

Going to the gym to max out your deadlifts, while signed off with a bad back, totally not ok. 😁

Even if the action of working makes your condition worse, having the ability to do something completely different which helps alleviate your condition means you can continue to do the thing that is contributing to your inability to work.

This is catch 21 in action people....

Exercise is part of physical recovery, gyms through personal trainers often offer rehab training as well. As long as your not saying to work that you can't walk then going to run on a treadmill then it's fine!

If anyone at work were to see you, imagine the fuss or the allegations that could be made. I would not do so unless I had beforehand had a conversation with my manager.

Not unreasonable. Especially if it complements or facilitates recovery advice you've been given.

So shouldn't your thread title read "Going swimming when signed off work"?

It's nobody else's business. The only people who might need to know, is the HR person dealing with the OP's case so they know what rehab she is doing to get herself fit enough to come back to work, not nosey and badly informed co-workers.

If I heard colleagues gossiping about a colleague going to the gym with a bad back I would soon set them straight, and I hope that others on this thread would do so, having now been educated that exercise is GOOD for back injuries and problems.

When I slipped a disc, the only thing I could do that gave me some relief was get into a swimming pool.

I’m wondering how someone gets signed off while being physically able to go to a pool and do anything while there

There is quite a difference between sitting at a desk and swimming gently in a pool. Or doing rehab exercise in a gym.

it's immoral to go to the gym if you're signed off work with a physical injury, but not go to work what rubbish!

This.
When I’ve been signed of work it’s because I couldn’t even lift a kettle to make a cup of coffee, could barely move and the strong painkillers needed made me unable to think straight.
I have disc issues at L5 that initially required regular physio for a year, then when my back improved, I took up Pilates with a specialist rehab teacher. That was 20 years ago as my spine specialist agreed I could try it as an alternative to surgery to fuse my spine and I still go to the same instructor. When I suggested swimming my physio said definitely no breaststroke so I booked freestyle lessons to improve my technique. My back is now strong enough to do breast stroke, but I mix it in with lengths in other strokes.

Disability Access at Work provided me with a “dynamic” chair that moves to support my back even when I move forward and no one is allowed use or change the settings. (Hot desking office).

It is important to keep active so I go to the gym regularly, but I have a tailored programme, a mix from my physio and gym trainer to make sure I’m keeping my back safe. Technique is everything. Unless you have already had Pilates classes with an instructor checking your position, you will do more damage to your back in a gym. In a typical gym class of 18-20, there is no time to check that each individual is doing the exercises correctly. I do go to a combination of gym and studio Pilates classes but in the gym I know what I’m doing.

OP, your priority should be focused on adjustments at work to help you with your back issues. Try walking, yoga for flexibility and Pilates to strengthen your core. Judicious use of a suitable back brace for limited periods is useful when you feel that your back is about to go. Listen to your body.

I recently had 3 months off with a broken shoulder. Towards the end, I started doing water aerobics classes which helped massively with moving my shoulder.

I have a friend who hasn’t worked for years due to psychosis and depression and has now gained ten stone and cannot walk further than the bus stop. The gym could most definitely be a key part of treatment to get her back into the workplace. She is no longer unwell as such but too physically unfit to work. Gym is to improve health it’s not going to the pub and sinking a gram of cocaine and ten pints when you’ve told work you have a stomach ache.

Utterly irrelevant.

Your friend, who you are basically slagging off, will have been on medication that is notorious for weight gain. Psychosis is an enormous deal for anyone to live with and unsurprisingly when living with depression too, your friend has not been able to regulate their life in the same way as someone without those challenges.

If she's able to manage the gym now, it's still not comparable with being signed off work with a bad back.

@hunge (OP) needs to come back to explain some context to avoid the frothing continuing - like how she injured herself, how long it's been since it happened, what she's been told to do and by whom for her treatment, what she's told her work about the injury, diagnosis and treatment - and then it can all be considered in the round.

Not at all.

I go to the gym largely for physio on an injury, not for fun. I have specific exercises to do on specific machines, as well as general strength and conditioning. If I were signed off with a bad back, it would be even more important to go and do it every day, and to swim in the pool.

Of course, there's probably going to be some hateful cunt who reports you to HR because they think you're taking the piss. Most people just don't understand illness and disability at all.

Now you see I agree with your DH.

If you're well enough to drive yourself to the gym to enjoy a relaxing swim to help your bad back, you're well enough to get to work. Of course, you need to speak to work to make reasonable adjustments.

You can go to the gym and go for a swim AFTER work.

I think the problem is a bad back is used the same as people saying they've got flu when it's a cold. I actually have had a bad back, so i do sympathise, but I didn't stop work. I did my exercise around work (and you're absolutely right, exercise did help massively)

“When I’ve been signed of work it’s because I couldn’t even lift a kettle to make a cup of coffee, could barely move and the strong painkillers needed made me unable to think straight”

Exactly - as soon as I’m mobile enough to be moved down from morphine to tramadol and hobble about my house on my steam they don’t renew my sick note.

It depends on your job but it's probably not reasonable to go swimming if you are off work. I have a back problem and if am able to swim I am able to work with adjustments (e.g. standing desks).

Im certainly not going to be running marathons on the treadmill but would like to use the pool.

So your actual question should have been, 'WIBU if I go to the swimming pool if I am signed off work with a bad back' for which the answer would have been 'no'. The answer to your original question is 'yes'.

Are you on a fit note or self certed? If you are self certed then I'd be telling work what I was doing as round me is a small world and the gossip is horrendous. If you are on a fit note then you might get its put on the fit note. It sounds to me that your bad back is not new and you know how to manage it? If this is th3 case then donthink about whether continued or frequent absence will result in your being managed out if the job. If you have an occy health deoartment do liaise with them.....going to the gym might be entirely appropriate but is very open to being misunderstood (ex nhs manager in rehab)

I was off work a few years back with a prolapsed disc causing sciatic nerve compression (the injury was caused at work). I could barely walk, get out of bed, put socks on, turn over in bed....it was absolutely agony.

My job involves a lot of manual handling and working in difficult spaces. I was unfit for work. I was, however, going swimming each morning. It was the only movement I could do without being in extreme pain. It kept me mobile, kept my back supple and got me out of the house. Because swimming is non-weight bearing it was the only exercise I could do. I could barely do the exercises my physio gave me to do due to pain, stiffness and muscle spasm. But swimming really helped.

Work, my GP, my physio and OH department were all aware of what I was doing and actively encouraged it. My employers saw it as me being pro-active to getting back to work because it was the only thing I could do. Yes it was absolute agony getting to the pool and I really struggled getting in and out of the car, but the benefits really made it worthwhile.

If I'm ever in the same situation again I wouldn't hesitate to get back in the pool.

However, it entirely depends on your job role. I was unfit for my particular job, and as soon as I was more mobile I went onto alternative duties until I was fit do do my role again.

I was quite impressively ill (hospital stay, had to eventually give up the higher education course I was doing full time at the time) with a bad back. I went swimming about four times a week and also to Pilates class. Absolutely not unreasonable - it's part of your recovery process.

Might be worth letting occupational health at your work know what you're doing - I'm thinking this would pre-emptively protect you against one of your colleagues seeing you and reporting you or anything like that.