do you work out when you have a bad cold?

workingToBeFit

workingToBeFit

Cathlete
I have been sick for a week with a bad cold, and have been not working out. Besides making me incredibly frustrated I am worried about losing the muscle strength I've gained working out hard with Cathe since June. I also know I have some new Cathe DVDs under the tree and am already wanting to try them! But, I have this bad cold; lots of nose blowing and coughing still, etc. I am wondering what other people do. I don't know if working out will make me feel better or worse! What do you do when you're sick like this?

And...happy holidays to one and all :)

~ Ann ~
Aim for nothing, and you'll hit it every time!
 
Get into bed, take lots of cold meds, and watch TV till my eyes fall out. No, I would not even consider working out when I feel miserable.

Believe it or not, your muscles will actually thrive from having a week off, and you will not lose any muscle strength at all. I once took a year off from working out, and I was amazed that it took that long to lose most of my muscle strength. One full year, no kidding. So, go watch some heart-warming Christmas movies and take your mind off your troubles. I'm a major believer in escapism for whatever ails you. ;)
 
Thank you Nancy, your post gave me a much needed SMILE. Especially saying my muscles might actually like the time off!

~ Ann ~
Aim for nothing, and you'll hit it every time!
 
FWIW, whenever I've tried to keep working out while I had a bad cold, it took me so much longer to recover then if I just completely took it easy & got lots of sleep. I'd read that if you have any fever, exercising can actually be dangerous because your body's ability to dissipate heat through sweat isn't functioning correctly. Go pamper yourself, eat healthy and you'll get better faster!

Jonahnah
Chocolate IS the answer, regardless of the question.
 
Ann, muscles thrive on recovery time. Honest. Take if from someone who has more "recovery" time than anyone else on these boards. :p In fact, this is going to sound weird, but I think my muscles do better with fewer workouts. I'm sitting here feeling the round apples that are my biceps and because of back pain, I haven't even touched a weight in at least 3 weeks. When I was weight training 3X per week, back in the early 2000s, I don't remember having this much muscle. Maybe it's because of diet. While you're sick, eat lots of citrus fruit. Have you tried Health Valley 5-bean veggie soup? YUM. And Amy's vegetable black bean soup? YUM. In my opinion, diet is about 85% of fitness.

Hope you feel better soon!
 
I agree that you should rest and recouperate. If you "push" your way through an illness and continue to workout, you risk weakening your immune system, which is counter-prodctive to your health/fitness goals.
Curl up with a mug of cocoa and a good book. Those DVD's under the tree will wait for you ;-)

Sarah
 
I'm always amazed at how a LITTLE time off helps me when I get back to working out. Suddenly, I can quickly pick up steps that I couldn't grasp before (maybe my BRAIN needed a break?) and I return able to lift heavier weight and get better definition, faster. Also, when you just give in to your cold it tends to go away faster than when you insist on fighting it.
 
Ann,

I play by ear and have gotten pretty good about listening to my body and knowing when I can push it and when I shouldn't. It just depends on how I feel...When I feel something coming on, I like to load up on Vitamin C and Airborne and will try to take it easy. If a full-blown bug hits me, then I'll usually rest the first day or two, for sure, but longer if needed -- and without guilt. My view is that a sick body is rundown and NEEDS the rest, not any extra exertion. That being said, there have been times when a good sweat (even if at a lower intensity) actually helped my sinuses and congestion. If you feel up to a workout, why not try something lowkey? And if it's too much, just stop.

Hope you feel better soon!

Edited to fix a typo...Forgot the "f" in "for."

[font face="heather" font color=black size=+2]~Cathy[/font]

http://www.millan.net/minimations/smileys/stockingsmiley1.gif
 
Thank you to everyone who answered - you are all right, I need to rest and eat well and relax with a book or the TV and just take some time to heal. MDH is sick too with the same thing so it sounds like a good night for a sentimental Christmas movie :) I think I have been fighting this too hard.

~ Ann ~
Aim for nothing, and you'll hit it every time!
 
Ann:

I agree with previous poster that when you know your body really well, you can tell when it would be OK to work out and when it would be disastrous.

But I disagree with her recommendation for you on this occasion. What you are describing is someone very run down and who needs rest, rest, rest. So I'm with Nancy 100% in your case. Even 2 weeks off will not hurt you. You'll soon be right back where you started and your body will thank you.

Soups, liquids, warm bed, lots of layers, snuggle on the couch and get others to spoil you for a change. Wallow in doing absolutely nothing for now.

Clare
 
If you are febrile or just miserable, do not push yourself.

I just returned to working out after a 10 day hiatus (went to Las Vegas).

I had no loss of strength or endurance. In fact, I am doing better than ever!
 
I will work out with a mild cold for sure. In fact, I have a mild cold right now and I worked out y'day and definately plan to work out again today!

I pay attention to how I feel though and if it gets worse or my body starts telling me to "slow down" while I am exercising, I will certainly listen and take the needed rest days.

The one thing I will NOT do is work out when I have a fever.

Have a great day!:)
 
Thank you all again for all of your messages - as it turned out, last night my body decided for me - I developed a fever, which I didn't have earlier. Anyway it's couch and blankie time.

I am so glad to hear that after breaks for whatever reason people felt they even benefitted from the break.

~ Ann ~
Aim for nothing, and you'll hit it every time!
 
if i have a cold (maybe just a runny or stuffy nose) i work out. if i have a fever or ESPECIALLY if i have any kind of congestion in my chest i don't work out. i did that a while ago and ended up with a case of bronchitis that had me in bed for 7 days! i learned my lesson and got a chest cold about two weeks ago. i took 6 days off working out and came back stronger and never got sicker. each day i felt a little bit better but i'm sure if i worked out like i wanted to, it would have taken longer to get better or i could have gotten sicker.
 
If I have a cold, it depends on how bad it is, and what kind of workout.

For a bad cold, I'd let my body use its energy to repair and get well: I'd drink lots of fluids (veggie broths, water), rest, and avoid anything but maybe some stretching. Trying to do too much can prolong the illness, so you drag on for days.

A good rule of thumb is that if symptoms are above the neck, it's okay to workout. If they are below the neck (like coughing, which is in the lungs), then rest.

For a less severe case, I'd still hold back on my workout a bit, but do something that is just enough to heat up my body a bit (I'm not at all sure of this, but since a fever helps your body get white blood cells into action, I think that increasing body heat may help as well---I usually feel better after a hot cup of tea or broth, which does the same thing).
 
I'm a little late seeing this thread, but it's got a lot of great replies. I've been sick for what feels like forever, and I've been alternating either pushing myself to work out or resting. Sometimes just getting up and trying to work out is enough to know if I should or not. If it seems like a struggle the whole time, then I should probably stop and rest. If it feels great, then I figure it's probably good to do. So it's definitely been a "listening to my body" thing. Of course, I don't always listen well and there have been times I've pushed myself to work out when I really probably wasn't ready. That being said, I haven't worked out the last couple days just because of being so busy with the holidays--and I feel like cooking and cleaning up after my family has been my workout today.

[font face="comic sans ms" font color=purple]***Lainie***
My fitness blog: http://fitnessfig.blogspot.com/ http://bestsmileys.com/exercising/7.gif[/font]
 
Ann,

I think sometimes that if you get sick it's your body's way of telling you it NEEDS the rest. I think you'd benefit by getting well - especially if you're running a fever. I completely understand the worry about NOT working out, but you don't want to end up with bronchitis or worse. Then you'll REALLY be down for the count.

Get well NOW..(ha)
:)
 
Get well soon Lainie!
I agree, all the cooking and cleaning IS a workout in itself :)

~ Ann ~
Aim for nothing, and you'll hit it every time!
 
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