Workouts while sick?

[dona]

Hi Cathe -

I'm interested in your ideas on training while sick.
I've had a bad cold for a few days now. I generally
WILL workout during that time when I "Know" I'm about
to get sick. I firmly believe that often (but unfortunately
not always) a good super sweaty workout will seem to
scare away the bug and the next day I feel fine. Maybe
this is from the elevated body temperatures? Ideas?

This time I got the cold and the workout right before
didn't scare it away. (IMAX2!) What I usually do is to do a
small amount of weights as soon as I can. I'll do weights
only until I can breathe freely enough to do cardio. This
time I was just wiped out and could not train at all for
a few days. I'll probably still have to stick to weights
only for a couple of days until I can breathe well enough
for the cardio.

I'm interested in knowing how you approach training while
ill. Do you just stop until you are better or use an approach
like the one I use (or something else?)? Is there a fairly
consistent idea about this in the personal training world or
is this issue controversial?

Thanks!
Dona

 

[Calico]

Not Cathe, but I have always heard that the rule of thumb is if your illness is in your head(head cold, stuffy nose, the drippy nose) it is ok to exercise, but if your illness is in your chest don't exercise until you are well again or maybe not coughing your head off. Hope that helps.

 

[dani21496]

Also, defintely don't exercise with a sore throat.

I learned the hard way. I kept on excercising when I was sick, (a few weeks ago), got better for a couple of days and then it hit me like a ton of bricks. I had the same symptoms but 10 x's worse. It's always better to let your body rest while you're fighting something off.

Danielle

 

[Cathe Friedrich]

Hi Dona! I, too, have heard what Annette has heard, and that seems to do well for me for the most part. Of course, there are always times where a cold seems more severe and even though it is not in my chest, my gut instinct tells me it is not a good idea to workout that day.

Hope you feel better!

 

[dona]

I definitely had to go with the "gut feeling" on this one. It was just a head cold.
But, it was the first one in many years that drained my energy to the point that I
could not even manage a few curls or crunches for several days! I'm back to my
schedule (though, a bit on the slow side). But if feels great to be moving again.

Thank you (Cathe and the others that posted) for posting your thoughts on this!
Dona

Perhaps the bottom line on this one should be it's okay - if you can do it?