At long last, you now have a superb routine. You haven’t missed a workout in weeks and you’re seeing achievement in the mirror. Then out of the blue you get that awful feeling in the back of your throat, and you simply don’t feel right. The next day, you are sick!
Working Out While Sick
You have to make a decision: must you still workout or should you try taking some days off?
What would be the smartest thing to do? What’s right to do is depending on some considerations. While regular exercise has been proven to reduce the amount of sick days you encounter in a year by half, the same cannot necessarily be said about actually working out during an illness. The best rule for this is the ‘above or below the neck rule’.If your symptoms are only found above your neck, like a mild sore throat or a little situation of the sniffles, then doing a light workout won’t necessarily hurt. American College of Sports Medicine even pointed out that workouts during disease can help relieve symptoms of common cold.
If your symptoms are below your neck, like a wheezy cough or congestion in general, then it’s best to avoid working out entirely. Symptoms such as these can be present in more serious conditions like bronchitis and will be greatly made worse by exercise.
Working Out While Sick
This rule is not infallible, mind you. It’s best to use your discretion above all else. For those who have a whopping head cold that is making you feel completely miserable, then do yourself and your immune mechanism a favour and take a sick day (or week). The world won’t come to end and your body won’t abruptly turn into fat. When you finally recover and head back to the gym, you’ll be back to where you were within a session or two.
In case you have decided to exercise, you should reduce both the intensity and duration of your workout by half. Based on Dr Jeffrey Woods, duration and intensity should only be about 50% when you are dealing with some symptoms.
Dr. Daryl Rosebaum, MD, director of Sport Medicine at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine says that if symptoms amend within the first 5-10 minutes of the workout, then you can up the intensity to possibly 80% of your norm.
“Moderation is the vital thing,” says Dr. Rosenbaum. “Studies have shown that people affected by the common cold who get up and get moving actually feel better. However, your immune system will take its toll in the event that you went over the top with your workout. A viral cold that is allowed to linger for more than normal could create sinus conditions that are ripe for a bacterial sinusitis to take over.”
Working Out While Sick
That very thing that Dr. Rosenbaum talked about has happened to yours truly before. I know they were signs and symptoms yet I neglected it.I went out for my standard run, and later that day, I felt about 10x worse than I in most cases do with a cold. My immune system just had excessive to deal with, and I was out for a solid 2 weeks; over twice the time it normally takes my body to eliminate a cold. The most important thing to take away from this is to not overdo it and to listen to your body. It might have been a serious cold though the run I took made it bad.
You can Do mild Exercises While Sick When:
You might have above the neck symptoms and you feel quite well.
You have a bit of a sore throat and feel ok.
Mild headache occurs yet you feel okay.
You’re planning on doing light cardio to see if it opens up your sinuses a bit.
Exercise should Be prevented During Sickness When:
You have to visit the gym. Don’t be the jerk who chooses he or she is working out with a cold and subsequently passes it on to everyone in there. Take your workout outside or workout at home.
You’re planning on lifting weights. It’s hard not to use too much power during these workouts, and this will often make your illness worse and/or prolong it.
You’ve got a fever or a temperature of 100 deg Fahrenheit and up.
You have difficulties below your neck.
You feel nauseous.
You are doubtful if workout will be good for you.
Congestion is present.
Pains in certain parts of your body are present.
Warnings
It’s particularly significant to stay adequately replenished with water when you’re sick with the natural water loss that takes place during a common cold; not merely from nasal drainage, but many cold medicines contain antihistamine (used to help stop a running nose and sneezing) which also obviously dehydrates you.
Final Words
I’d say that when uncertain, take the time off.You should take a full week off every 8 or 9 weeks anyways, and you won’t be harming your progress at all by not working out for a few days. In all likelihood, the rest will actually help your general progress. Ensuring your body’s immune system has a opportunity to adequately heal in a weeks time by not exercising is a greater choice than exercising when sick and potentially prolonging your illness by a significant amount.