Exercising while sick

Nanbo

Nanbo

Cathlete
I'm sure this has appeared in the forum before, but I just don't have the strength to sift through the posts!
How do you ladies handle exercise while being sick? I've heard about the neck-up rule: "if the illness affects you from the neck up it is okay to work out, but if it's below the neck you need to rest".
Well, I've been dealing with a monster head cold and worked out through 2 days of it and then on Friday I started getting chest congestion and felt so tired, so I took the night off. Yesteday the cough was a bit worse and my head felt all floaty from Sudafed (the good stuff from the pharmacist!). I knew there was no way I could do cardio, so I did High Reps and had a great work out. Today is the worst day yet. I didn't feel up to anything! I went on a 30 minute mild walk and felt like I was really struggling :(.
I hate being set back on the wonderful gains I've made since I've found Cathe. I hope tomorrow I'll be able to do STS Total Body. It seems more plausible that I can lift weights than do cardio.
How bad is it to back off the cardio and do weights every other day? I was alternating weights with cardio and improving my fitness rapidly. Should I force myself to do the cardio and stop feeling sorry for myself?
I'd really like to get the opinion of you Cathletes because I have such respect for you!!!
Thanks for any advice/opinion you can give,
Nancy
 
IMO, during the times that your body needs energy to combat illness, it won't be capable of providing the energy required to build muscle.

For me, I will generally continue to workout during a mild cold, but I've found from experience that if I have a fever, such as during the flu, I'm better off in the long haul to get rest.

I hope you feel better soon!
 
Good Grief! Take a few days off and rest. Everyone needs to rest sometimes whether they are sick or not. Plus you sound like each day you get a little worse. Forget the guilt. Just take some time to recuperate. If I was you, I would probably take a week off and then see how I felt.
 
Take the rest and allow your body to get better!

Exercise (unless it's rather mild) is a stress to the immune system, and adding exercise stress on top of the stress of the illness will keep you from getting better as fast as you would if you rested. You could be dragging for weeks rather than a few days.

Also, the chest congestion you mentioned IS below the neck, so even the guideline you stated early in your post should have led you to take a rest rather than beat your body up more.

Exercise should be done for fitness and health: pushing yourself when you're ill doesn't advance either.
 
Thank you ladies! I think I just needed "permission" to take some time off! I'm taking a sick day from work today and plan on getting lots of sleep. When I'm up to it, I'll ease back into my routine with reduced weights and steady state aerobics (can't even imagine doing Intensity right now, lol!). I appreciate your advice and good thoughts more than I can express. Hopefully I'll be back to my energetic self in no time!:eek:
Nancy
 
Rest. You can always make your fitness gains in a week. You are already changing your muscles, the first time they learn and the second time its easier.
 
Hi Nanbo! Definitely let your body heal and get some rest!! I normally recover VERY quickly from any sort of illness or injury but my stubborness about working out landed me on antibiotics and I ended up being down for the count for a solid week- had the head-cold for nearly three weeks!

Listen to and take care of your body. I TOTALLY hear ya on needing permission. It wasn't until I dragged my exhausted butt into the doctor's office and he told me not to wait so long to take care of my body.

Healthy & healing hugs your way, girl!

Pam
 
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