You can actually have a hernia for a long time without any major problems, but heavy training can aggravate the situation. The one thing you don't want is to have the hernia become "strangulated," which would require immediate emergency surgery.

I probably had mine for a long time, and had no problem training. What ultimately aggravated it (although it did not become strangulated) wasn't training, but lifting a heavy sofa-bed. Like anythng else in life, a hernia is a crap-shoot, so if you know you have one, chances are that it is been painful enough at one time or another to make you aware of it.

Obviously, the best time to take care of it is when it is not an emergency situation. We're talking about the most common surgical procedure for men - generally in and out of the hospital the same day. My surgery was in early March; I was walking the same day, shopping two days later, and driving two days after that. You should be able to return to a full workout routine in a matter of weeks.

In my case, there was one problem: instead of sutures or staples, the incision was closed with Dermabond (sort of a surgical super-glue), and it didn't hold. The incision opened, then had to heal gradually and on its own by what doctors call "secondary intent" - naturally, granulating from the inside out. No big whoop, but it did keep me out of the gym for several additional weeks. So obviously I do not recommend Dermabond. Other than that, there are several options in terms of the type of surgical procedure they use for the repair, so I recommend learning as much as you can about those options and simply having it done. If you have pain now, the surgery will take care of that.