The answer to the above question is YES. Yes, you can exercise on a detox. It just depends on the type of detox that you’re doing as to what type of exercise is the best choice for you.

Some people say that when you do a detox, you should stop exercising. But I don’t believe that. Unless you’re doing a super intense detox of just lemon water (and if you’re going to do that, please don’t do it for any longer than a day!), you can (and should!) easily incorporate exercise into your day.

The detox that I’m doing throughout the month of January is really focused on eating fairly low-calorie (I aim for 1,200 but usually get closer to 1,500 a day), whole foods, and vegan. That means that some days I’ll eat a high amount of healthy fats from nuts and nut butter, and other days (like yesterday) all I’ll have is green smoothies. It really depends on how you’re feeling and what you want to do.

My version of the detox ensures that the body is given a high quantity of nutrients for the calorie content its receiving (hello veggies!), rather than extreme weight loss. Because of that, I feel completely comfortably doing low-impact exercise daily. I’m aiming for at least 1 hour of walking every day, plus Pilates every 2 – 3 days and strength training every 2 – 3 days. It’s nothing strenuous, just 10 – 15 minutes of Pilates and strength training, but it’s enough to maintain/build muscle and maintain/gain flexibility. After all, what’s the point of doing a detox if you lose a bunch of weight and it turns out to be mostly muscle and then you end up all weak? That’s no fun at all!

Ideal Detox Exercise

My idea of the ideal detox exercise is a variation and combination of yoga, Pilates, stretching and walking. The reason for this is that these are low-intensity exercises that are easy on the joints. They are also very much about relaxation and improving mental health as well as physical health – very important for a detox. Doing light stretching or going for a walk can re-energize us as well, and help a lot with the mind-body connection so that the detox really works for all parts of ourselves.

The main reason why I’ve been doing Pilates during the past week, rather than yoga, is because I have a book on Pilates and I don’t have a book on yoga. But I also really love Pilates because it focuses so much on combining strength training through body weight with stretching. It’s been a really nice way to wake up on some of my mornings.

What about high-intensity exercise?

This is where you have to be careful when you’re doing a detox. If you do too much exercise and you aren’t getting enough calories, it can be very dangerous. This is one that you need to really listen to your body for, and you also need to consider the type of detox you’re doing. Even with my type of detox, I’ve made a conscious decision to not go to the gym or go running. You should at least build your way up: if you’re doing a month-long detox, focus on walking, light strength training and yoga for the first couple weeks, and once your body has adapted to the detox then you can focus on going for a run or similar. But I think that when you’re doing a detox, it’s better to focus on lighter types of exercise which aren’t likely to hurt you and which will emphasize the mind-body connection.

Lastly, it depends on how much exercise you’re already doing as to if you want to do high-intensity exercise for your detox! If you run 5 miles every day, then you’ll probably be just fine continuing that run on the type of detox that I’ve been doing (but maybe reduce the number of miles you run, at least in the beginning). If the most exercise you do in a day is to walk to and from your car in the garage, then definitely start out with just 30 minutes walking each day and some stretching – you can build in strength training and longer bouts of exercise when you feel more comfortable with it.

Do you exercise when you’re detoxing? What type of exercise are you doing these days? Share in the comments section below!