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I am sick. I have a cold: My nose is stuffed, my throat is sore, and I’m exhausted. It’s 7:51, and I should already be at the gym. But I didn’t sleep well last night. I feel like I didn’t sleep at all.
Though I could tell I was coming down with something last Saturday morning, I toughed it out and went on a four-mile run. I don’t think I’m going to tough it out today, and that makes me feel guilty. My morning trip to the gym has become the focal point of my day. Am I obsessed? Maybe a little. But I feel like missing even one day will set me back.
What’s the best thing to do? Go to the gym anyway and slog through a mediocre two mile run? Do my upper body weight-lifting workout tomorrow and add the two mile run? Skip today’s workout completely? I don’t know.
What I do know is that I need more sleep. I’m going back to bed. Maybe if I feel better later, I can squeeze in my run.
Mac
21 responses so far ↓
1 Dominik // Apr 8, 2008 at 7:20 am
Do the best and give yourself two or three days off. In the long run its much better to get fit as soon as possible than to restart to early and carry your cold for some weeks.
2 Lauren Muney, wellness + facilitation coach // Apr 8, 2008 at 7:20 am
Congrats about the run! You have found the part of the journey where you WANT to train! This is great. You’ll find your stride. Meanwhile, when your body says “Don’t work out”, make your ‘guilt’ listen. Your body is smarter than the guilt. (Sometimes the body says, ‘I can work out a little’, which is also good). Walking is fine, too, btw, especially on sick days.
3 grimsaburger // Apr 8, 2008 at 7:33 am
I usually follow the “neck rule” mentioned here. If I’m sort of snuffly but really tired, as it sounds like you are, I walk on the treadmill for a half hour or less. It doesn’t make much difference in terms of burning calories, but it does keep my body moving so getting back into the swing of things once the cold is gone isn’t so hard.
Now if I had the flu, I’d stay in bed without an ounce of guilt.
4 Eden // Apr 8, 2008 at 7:39 am
I always take the cautious approach when it comes to exercise and feeling sick. Your body is trying to tell you it needs a break. Just rest, eat well, and get back on track in a couple of days.
5 Di // Apr 8, 2008 at 8:09 am
Yep when you’re run down like that (trust me I know I just had the flu for 2+ weeks) then take a break.
We were always told to listen to your body. Usually if its just a head cold I can workout still, but fever/chills etc then nope I take a break. I learned that anything neck up I can work out fine. Anything neck down (esp chesty cough etc) then no, it’s time to rest.
6 jolene // Apr 8, 2008 at 8:26 am
I don’t think it is a good idea to exercise when you’re sick. If your immune system is struggling and you are tired, the adrenal glands end up overstimulating and more cortisol is released into the system. When the stress hormone, cortisol is high it becomes very difficult to lose weight (the goal in the first place).
Better to rest the body and drink a ton of water. Plus you don’t want this to turn into that respiratory thing that was all over the country this spring (took me a month to get over it).
Finally, check out The Maffetone Method, by Philip Maffetone. It was published in 2000 and kind of “fell under the radar.” But I heard him speak years ago and like his ideas. He is unconventional. He is about training to maintain a lower heart rate which builds excellent aerobic function (for things like a marathon:-), immune function, lowers stress hormones, etc. Essentially builds a very strong athlete, - its an interesting philosophy.
7 Denise // Apr 8, 2008 at 8:28 am
I would say just take a break and let your body rest. Plus, don’t go to public places (like the gym or a group run) because then you can infect other people - and that’s not what you want, I’m sure.
Hope you feel better soon.
D
8 Cara // Apr 8, 2008 at 9:20 am
I do work out when I’m sick (if it seems like a cold, not a flu that means I can hardly get out of bed), but only if I’m at the very beginning or very end of the cold. I find that a cardio workout will often stop the cold in its tracks, or get the remaining congestion out of my system.
However, I have often pushed the envelope too far with this system, because I hate hate hate to miss a workout. But when in doubt, I do work out (rhyme was unintentional).
9 Andrew is getting fit // Apr 8, 2008 at 9:46 am
Better to have 2 or 3 days off and get well than to aggravate things and have 2 or 3 months off.
10 Maria - Never the Same River Twice // Apr 8, 2008 at 9:48 am
Based on nothing but my own experience, I find it beneficial to do a light/moderate aerobic workout (walking is about the best) with the goal of getting really warm. This almost always helps get my energy system righted and I sleep better. That’s only if it’s just a head cold.
If it’s anything worse than a cold, just take a nap and drink some orange juice.
11 J.D. // Apr 8, 2008 at 10:30 am
12 Dr. Pam // Apr 8, 2008 at 11:56 am
JD - For your average cold, there is no real medical reason to keep you from working out. That doesn’t necessarily mean that you should workout. If your body feels like it needs more rest, you probably do. When your body is trying to tell you something, it is a good idea to listen - like if your knee is hurting you at soccer practice. Joking aside, this principle holds for when you are not sick as well, such as after you do a really hard workout and then don’t feel like getting up the next day.
In terms of fitness losses, I have heard you can take your long run mileage and then convert that into # of days off you could take without any adverse benefits to your fitness regimen (I don’t know a conversion factor for other sports/lifting). You have been running about two miles in your interval sessions, so at the minimum, you could take two days off without losing anything (and your long run was actually 4 miles = 4 days!). I only have anecdotal evidence on this one, but in my experience, this is an underestimate. And the rest could even do you some good, refreshing your muscles and allowing them time to get stronger - which is why most training programs incorporate some sort of rest days.
13 J.D. // Apr 8, 2008 at 2:47 pm
14 E. Joy // Apr 8, 2008 at 4:15 pm
Hey J.D.
Although some exercise is good for when you are sick (i.e. a brisk walk for fresh air, or light lifting), you should try to stay away from your “normal” workout. Your lymphatic system (part of the cirulatory sytem that helps w/ illness) unlike the blood flow, does not have it’s own pump. It is actually moved about the body by movement (like walking, jumping on a trampoline, having a good rubdown). For this reason you should definitely get some activity.
Your normal exercise routine would take too much needed energy away from your body repairing itself and will make you more zapped and perhaps even feel worse for longer.
The fresh air on the other hand, would allow more oxygen into your lungs and would be enough to get the lymph moving in your body, and get you on the road to recovery sooner.
15 hlb // Apr 8, 2008 at 4:55 pm
Hello… I work out regularly and I have to tell you, any time I have ever tried to work out when I was not feeling well just made me feel worse. Please don’t work out when you’re sick! Stay in bed. Drink hot tea. Eat chicken noodle soup. Drink a lot of water. But don’t work out. Your body will thank you for letting you give it a chance to heal before you put that kind of extra stress on it again. Get well soon! ^_^
16 kdub // Apr 8, 2008 at 6:56 pm
I heard recently, if your not feeling well above the shoulders (stuffy head, congestion) then you can work out lightly, but if you feel poorly below the shoulders (fever, aches, stomach issues), then skip the work out. When I have a head cold or congestion, I opt for a walk or yoga. I still get my body moving and some blood pumping, but I don’t try to push myself too hard. Hope you are feeling well soon.
17 Cynthia // Apr 9, 2008 at 12:10 am
I’m in the listen carefully to your body camp. You’ll know then if you are OK to exercise lighty or need to just rest and recover.
As for fresh air improving things, maybe for a cold… perhaps not for the flu.
Last winter I was about as sick as I’ve ever been. ONE short trip out into the cold, damp, freezing, foggy “fresh” air to show up for jury duty when they wouldn’t let me call in sick over the phone set my recovery back another three weeks.
So irritating too, as they took one look at me coughing and said “GO HOME”. Which I did, but I relapsed badly and also got the pink-eye I’d been fighting again.
OTOH, what I had was flu… and pink-eye on top of it. Worse than a cold.
Feel better!
18 TosaJen // Apr 9, 2008 at 9:09 am
If my body is telling me to sleep no matter what I have going on, I listen to it. I can usually tell the difference between “not feeling like working out”, and “wanting to lay down instead of watching TV, reading, or trying to put together a sentence in a discussion”.
I’ve found that I bounce back a lot quicker if I sleep a lot up front than if I try to soldier through.
19 brooklynchick // Apr 13, 2008 at 5:32 am
I know many disagree, but when I last asked my doc about it, he advised against it. He said, use your energy for healing, not for exercising. His $.02!
20 Cynthia // Apr 13, 2008 at 8:05 am
Listening to someone the other day with a hacking cough in the gym… if you must exercise when ill or coming down ill, do consider the other gym goers and try to keep the exercise at home, LOL!
All I could think listening to this woman was “I don’t want what you’ve got!”
21 beth s. // Apr 14, 2008 at 6:58 pm
I know I’m late here, but I came down with a cold around the same time you did. Here’s what I did.
I skipped a day or two of running, but I was scheduled to run a race (my first ever, a 10K) on the 6th. I was feeling pretty awful, but I remembered the neck rule. So I actually had to pay attention to what my body was telling me: is it saying “my nose is runny, bring me a tissue”? Or, “I’m tired and sluggish, let’s go back to bed”?
It was the former. I remembered that I might not run my best time because of the cold, but it was still worth a try. (Especially because the thrill of finishing a race would be a huge ego boost no mater how it went). So I did it. I had lots of fun, and beat my best 6-mile time too!
I made sure to get lots of sleep and good food, both before and after the race. For the rest of the time I was sick, I did light workouts but nothing hard. (I believe a little exercise is good for you if you feel up to it. People who get up after surgery or major illness tend to heal faster, too.)
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