Exercise when sick?

[beanbag]

I've been pretty much under the weather these past few weeks. First a mild flu, and now a cold is taking it out of me.

Throughout that time, I've continued to exercise on my indoor Zwift trainer following a comment from the specialist telling me I shouldn't stop my exercise regime; However this morning, I feel like a bag of rusty nails and after three weeks of solid day-to-day exercise (30-40 minutes in the week and 1.5-2 hours over the weekend), I'm thinking of taking a break for a day or two, even though I generally feel really good right after I finish my workout.

I'm getting a lot of mixed feedback from people, so I'm wondering what's the consensus in exercising when sick? (Colds, mild flu, that sort of thing)

[ZOLLAR]

beanbag said:

I've been pretty much under the weather these past few weeks. First a mild flu, and now a cold is taking it out of me.

Throughout that time, I've continued to exercise on my indoor Zwift trainer following a comment from the specialist telling me I shouldn't stop my exercise regime; However this morning, I feel like a bag of rusty nails and after three weeks of solid day-to-day exercise (30-40 minutes in the week and 1.5-2 hours over the weekend), I'm thinking of taking a break for a day or two, even though I generally feel really good right after I finish my workout.

I'm getting a lot of mixed feedback from people, so I'm wondering what's the consensus in exercising when sick? (Colds, mild flu, that sort of thing)

Give your body a chance to recover, also you're spreading a huge amount of germs around in a gym if you're unwell

[Baldchap]

https://www.runnersworld.com/health-injuries/a2085...

[C0ffin D0dger]

If it's just a sniffle to mild cold I'll push on through, I don't know what it is about running but for the most part it actually helps me fend these things off, maybe it's just being outside, consuming large quantities of cold air and getting sweaty that helps?

Last year though I had one that completely derailed my training. Felt a bit iffy in the day but went for my evening run, observed that my pulse was a bit higher than usual at the end, but the next day I was mullered. Ended up having a week off work, I guess it wasn't flu but felt pretty close to it. Think it was 2 weeks before I was back out running. I caused a significant drop in my VO2 max which took months to get back.

I think you might be overdoing things a bit though, exercising daily is not always a good idea, good to have the odd rest day for many reasons.

[Coolbanana]

I wouldn't train somewhere I might spread germs but alone, absolutely yes.

Easy for me, cycling is my sport so I can still just get out and about albeit at a less strenuous pace and simply spin for a few days until it has left my system.

[WinstonWolf]

beanbag said:

I've been pretty much under the weather these past few weeks. First a mild flu, and now a cold is taking it out of me.

Throughout that time, I've continued to exercise on my indoor Zwift trainer following a comment from the specialist telling me I shouldn't stop my exercise regime; However this morning, I feel like a bag of rusty nails and after three weeks of solid day-to-day exercise (30-40 minutes in the week and 1.5-2 hours over the weekend), I'm thinking of taking a break for a day or two, even though I generally feel really good right after I finish my workout.

I'm getting a lot of mixed feedback from people, so I'm wondering what's the consensus in exercising when sick? (Colds, mild flu, that sort of thing)

IMO when you're ill your exercise will be piss poor quality anyway, treat it as a rest period and when you're better you'll be able to hit it harder than before. All good exercise regimes also need recovery time

[gooner1]

Your body is giving you better advice than your trainer.

[beanbag]

Fair enough....I can't stand a gym and only train outdoors or at home. I've use a Kickr Core trainer, and I'm planning on getting a treadmill with a KickrPod so I can also use that on Zwift. The man can will be fully kitted out before long....

However today I'll take a rest day and see how I feel again tomorrow.

[designforlife]

General rule of thumb is-

If you're sick from the neck up (head cold) - exercise is fine (as much as you can tolerate, keep it sensible)
Neck down (on your chest etc) - rest up

[Hoofy]

Having done it before, you'll soon find that people advising you to push through are wrong.

Two things that I've experienced:
1) when pushing through, I've just got more sick
2) during recovery (for maybe 4 weeks) my fitness was just not there.

Just rest until you feel ready.

[okgo]

Exercise weakens your immune system and puts stress on your body. Almost never is it good to do it while ill.

[popeyewhite]

Baldchap said:

https://www.runnersworld.com/health-injuries/a2085...

The above. Common sense really, but the article doesn't mention viral myocarditis (leading to possible heart failure), a result of training with a virus or too soon after you feel better.

[beanbag]

And here's me thinking exercise is good for you!

Point taken.....I'll just keep it to every other day. I'm generally very fit, but very conscious of not backing off my regime. Annoyingly, I genetically have high cholesterol, so I take my fitness very seriously these days so find backing off for one day can be very disruptive in my daily routine.

Sounds like I'm going to just have to irritate my wife this evening by telling her how lethal man-flu is.....

Thanks!

[Olas]

Exercising whilst sick depends upon your level of determination - most people will stop exercising, be sick, and then continue (or stop)
To do the two activities simultaeneously requires an iron will and very good balance.

[Hoofy]

Maybe try tai chi or restorative/dru yoga if you feel the need to move.

[anonymous-user]

beanbag said:

and after three weeks of solid day-to-day exercise (30-40 minutes in the week and 1.5-2 hours over the weekend), I'm thinking of taking a break for a day or two, even though I generally feel really good right after I finish my workout.

Do you never have a rest day? I don’t think I’ve ever seen a training plan etc without a weekly rest day in it.

[anonymous-user]

beanbag said:

And here's me thinking exercise is good for you!

Point taken.....I'll just keep it to every other day. I'm generally very fit, but very conscious of not backing off my regime. Annoyingly, I genetically have high cholesterol, so I take my fitness very seriously these days so find backing off for one day can be very disruptive in my daily routine.

Sounds like I'm going to just have to irritate my wife this evening by telling her how lethal man-flu is.....

Thanks!

Isn’t it actually beneficial (rather than “disruptive”) to have a rest day?

https://www.runnersworld.com/health-injuries/a2086...

That’s running but it’s the same for any training or sport.

I just do some stretching from YouTube or yoga even on my rest days.

Perhaps that’s why you’re getting ill?

[Coolbanana]

designforlife said:

General rule of thumb is-

If you're sick from the neck up (head cold) - exercise is fine (as much as you can tolerate, keep it sensible)
Neck down (on your chest etc) - rest up

+1 - this is the advice I have always followed. So long as my chest etc is fine, I can go out but I just don't do hard rides. It's still fine to get some steady miles in though with a cold and I find that the fresh air really helps too.

[Joscal]

My chest was feeling bad last week and I went out and did 14 miles in the cold on Saturday and have felt dreadful ever since..no idea if connected but I wish I hadn't bothered..

[Hoofy]

Joscal said:

My chest was feeling bad last week and I went out and did 14 miles in the cold on Saturday and have felt dreadful ever since..no idea if connected but I wish I hadn't bothered..

I suspect it is. I was coming down with something, had a bit of a temperature. Decided to do HIIT training (no pain, no gain!). The next day I was hit by a full on fever with fatigue to rival a chemotherapy patient. I could barely get a spoonful of food into my mouth.