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"   When Emma Stone recently confessed that she took a month off from working out (and loved it), we thought, &amp;quot;Damn, that sounds awesome!&amp;quot;\u2014especially when she pointed out that she felt more relaxed since she wasn&amp;#039;t a slave to the gym.  But Emma also admitted that she didn&amp;#039;t feel her sexiest at the time, and ended up wearing looser clothes to cover up her imperfections. Yeah, that didn&amp;#039;t sound as great to us.  Sure, working out is important for staying healthy and fit, but Emma&amp;#039;s comments really made us think. Should we be taking more breaks from the gym? Definitely, says certified personal trainer Doug Sklar, founder of PhilanthroFit Training, LLC in New York City. &amp;quot;There is nothing wrong with scheduling little breaks from exercising now and then,&amp;quot; he says. &amp;quot;In fact, it&amp;#039;s a good idea to allow your body time to recover and rejuvenate from the stresses of your daily routine.&amp;quot; Doug says that exercising every day can actually hurt your fitness goals, and may even leave you open to injury. That, and it can totally wipe you out\u2014mentally and physically. Okay, Emma&amp;#039;s big break was good for her. But if you&amp;#039;re feeling burned out on your workout routine, Doug recommends just taking a week or two off, since that won&amp;#039;t affect your overall fitness.  Want to stay excited for the gym without taking an extended break? Doug says it&amp;#039;s a good idea to skip the gym once or twice a week\u2014it&amp;#039;ll keep you motivated and give yourself a chance to rest up between workouts. Would you take a gym vacation? Photo: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images Entertainment "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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