It was decided. Football was to be played in Southern California as part of a celebration of my friend’s birthday.

Teams of four lined up against one another, as we took to the field. A few touchdowns were scored, and I had taken to my usual position &- a mixture of offensive lineman and tight end.

And then it happened.

The play was simple: all I had to do was block one man from following a wide receiver on my team. It’s called a “screen.” I’ve performed this play dozens of times. It’s supposed to free the fastest receiver from his coverage.

They hiked the ball. I ran forward.

I was almost at him. He was just two steps away from me.

Then he dropped to the ground to trip me up.

Diving to avoid stepping on his chest, my right knee slammed into the grass.

That’s when I felt a pop. Pain followed. I imagine the feeling is similar to having your knee hacked off by a rusty spoon.

Faced with two choices &- quit or continue &- I continued to play. Now, months since that moment, my knee still feels like that when pressure gets put to it.

It has been a hard lesson to learn, but I have to share it with you: if you hurt part of your body, even a little bit, do not keep working that part out.

Does that mean you have to stop exercising?

Of course not. But it’s so easy to take time off from working out when you’re hurt.

Just remember: the longer you stay away from exercise, the more likely you are to not return.

So what can you do? If you hurt your leg, do you work out the other one?

I would say that’s a bad idea. You will make your legs look unbalanced. And sure, you could just work the hurt leg even harder when it gets better, but then you’re risking injuring it again because of the added strain.

But, just because a leg or arm is hurt doesn’t mean you can’t do sit-ups. If your arm is hurt, you can still do squats, or ride a bike.

You might not be able to do all the exercises you used to, but the important part is that you’re continuing to exercise, and not setting back your weight loss goal by just sitting around and gaining weight.

David Loret de Mola can be reached at [email protected]