Don’t text and exercise

You know how you shouldn’t text and drive? Well, one researcher found that you shouldn’t text and exercise either.

A study performed by Dr. Michael Rebold, Ph.D., assistant professor of integrative exercise science at Hiram College, and researchers from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania found that using your phone while exercising can disrupt your postural stability and put you at a higher risk for injuries. Postural stability is the ability of an individual to maintain their center of gravity, or in other words, keep balance.

The study examined the effects of different cell phone functions, such as texting, talking, and listening to music, on postural stability during exercise. It included 45 college students participating using their phones to do any of the above functions as well as a control group.

The study found that postural stability was significantly worse in the texting and talking groups when compared to the music and control groups. So, while it may be okay to use your phone to play music while working out, texting while working out has shown to be detrimental to your workout.

The study concluded that using a phone for talking or texting while exercising can disrupt postural stability by requiring people to divide their attention between multiple tasks. This can put someone at risk for a fall or musculoskeletal injury.

Just as texting while driving diverts attention away, texting while exercising diverts attention too. This diversion of attention can lead to a lack of balance. For example, if you are working out on a weight bench and your phone chimes for a text, this distraction can cause you to lose balance, drop the weight on yourself and cause injury.

In conclusion: text and talk less and focus solely on your workout. Leave your phone in your gym locker. Don’t let texting be the cause of a serious injury. It can wait.