Jan
4
First, a disclaimer. I am not a doctor and this is not medical advice, simply my own experience.
Today’s post is inspired by the cold I woke up with this morning. I have a sore throat and a mild fever. In the past, I would have pushed myself to workout even in this condition. To do otherwise would seem like cheating to me. I felt guilty over not working out and the sickness seemed like just an excuse. However, I’ve seen realized how silly this is.
Working Out Might Make Things Worse
Workouts, especially strenuous ones like cardio, take a lot out of your body. You’re sweating, you’re tired and your body is straining to keep up. Now you’re trying to do this while also fighting off some illness. It’s just too much. The few times I’ve worked out while sick I’ve actually made things worse rather than better. I would get a slight endorphin rush while working out but, once that wore off, I felt sicker than I did before. Let your body rest and give it time to fight off the illness.
Danger to Yourself
While sick, your coordination suffers. You’re paying less attention and you’re tired. That’s a recipe for disaster while working out. You won’t pay attention to where you’re running on the treadmill or you’ll drop a weight on your foot because you coughed while lifting it. A gym can in fact be a dangerous place and it’s no place to be while sick.
Danger to Others
Also, by working out while sick you’re being irresponsible with your fellow gym goers. You’re quite literally spreading germs over every weight and machine you touch. That’s unfair to those around you who are trying to get healthier, not sicker.
A Mild Workout Might Be Fine
What I found works for me is a very mild and slow workout which is essentially just stretching. I spend about 5 to 10 minutes stretching or doing slow exercises with no weight. Nothing too strenuous, no lunges or crunches. Just enough to get my body warmed up. That actually seems to make me feel better and healthier.
Summary
Remember, your body is busy fighting off a sickness. It might not have enough resources to do that and workout at the same time.
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Comments
3 Responses to “Should You Work Out While You’re Sick?”
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That is all very true. Normally, when I’m sick (and provided I’m not bed-ridden, but this hasn’t happened in ages), I try to at least have a casual walk outside, even if it’s cold. I don’t like staying locked inside, in a ’sick room’, so to say, but I don’t want to impose strenuous efforts on a weakened body either. We have to find the middle-ground in such cases as well.
Be careful when working out if you are sick. If you are sick sick, then don’t exercise, just rest. There is a saying that if your illness is above the throat, you can workout. This means that if you have a stuffy nose or something similar, you can workout. If you are running a fever don’t workout!
It might help you to workout at home too becuase you’ll be alone and you won’t get others sick and they won’t get you sicker. Try to use the videos at http://www.beYOU.tv. You can watch their workout videos for free or purchase and download them. beYOU is a great resource for working out at home!
Greg
I generally agree, but I have to share my recent experience. I was getting over a cold this past week, and on the tail end of it, where you are just coughing up the remaining gunk out of your lungs (I know, yum…). And I decided to go on a short morning mountain bike ride - about 40 minutes up a hill and back down. I started off the ride coughing up stuff, and by the end of the ride, I was all cleared out and had a great day. I think this is only something you can get away with at the very end of a cold, and of course if you are used to doing that activity regularly anyway.