When Are You Too Sick To Work Out?

This morning I woke up with a cold. I can’t even remember the last time I was sick and therefore had no idea how to look after myself properly. I decided to get up and proceed with my morning workout like every other morning. I made an extra effort to go hard as I thought to myself the best way is to sweat it out of me. But the reality is I hadn’t a clue if I was doing myself more harm than good. My housemate told me that with the common cold you need to overload on vitamin C, drink hot drinks and that I shouldn’t be working out but resting. The common cold lasts between 3-7 days so I felt even more sick of the thought of being out of training that long and how all my hard work would start to disappear.

With winter coming, the chances of you catching a cold are fairly high. And if and when you do, you may wonder too if it’s a good idea to work out or if you should take it easy.

So what is the real truth? Should we workout or not? When is it ok to cheat on your fitness routine?

Menshealth have discussed this topic and have said that if your symptoms are above the neck (cold)-sneezing, runny nose, scratchy throat then it is ok to workout. Dr Epperly advises that it could actually help you recover faster. However, you must not go overboard. “ Vigorous exercise-like running, high intensity interval training, lap swimming or cycling can actually supress your immune system, making you more ill. Decrease the intensity and length of your workout to play it safe”.

If your symptoms are below the neck (flu)-hacking cough, chest congestion, muscle aches, chills, upset stomach then it’s not a good idea to exercise. You can’t sweat your way back to health. You will recover faster with rest.

Bodybuilding.com shared similar views. In the case of a flu they advise absolutely no training. Concentrate on good nutrition and on drinking large amounts of fluids. Once the flu completely runs its course you can slowly start back training with lighter weights and not going to failure. If it is the common cold and the particular virus is mild you might get away with training as long as you stop the sets short of reaching muscular failure and you decrease the weights.

Muscleandfitness.com-The American College of Sports Medicine released its recommendations for exercising when you have a cold. Here are the do and don’t.

 

·         Do exercise with moderate intensity. If your cold is confined to your head (runny nose and sore throat) you can return to exercising at a higher intensity a few days after cold symptoms subside.

·         Don’t sweat out your illness.

·         Don’t work out if your illness is systemic (spread beyond your head-respiratory infections, fever, swollen glands and extreme aches and pains).

·         Do ease back into your workout slowly if you are recovering from a more serious bout of a cold or flu.

 

Starting back programme:

 

Once your body is fully recovered don’t go straight back into a tough workout.

·         Week 1- start off with a lighter weight and shorter sets.

·         Week 2- Repeat but push yourself closer to muscular failure.

·         Week 3- you should be back on track.