On Monday morning, when you get up for work, you notice there is a little tickle in your throat and you are just a wee bit more tired than usual. By Tuesday, that throat is full-out sore, your joints ache and your really feel lousy.
Work Out or Rest?
You've worked hard to arrange your busy schedule in order to fit that workout in at least three or four times a week. You set up an appointment with the gym's trainer, you've got the babysitter lined up, and you've shifted your lunch hour around. The last thing in the world you wanted is to get sick.
What to do? Is it true that working out can actually help fend off a cold or flu? You're afraid if you slow down at all, your whole week will fall apart. Maybe if you ignore it and keep going full force the whole thing will just go away.
"Maybe," says Jessie Green, a New York based personal trainer and dancer. "But if you continue to exercise when you don't feel well you could end up missing even more days of your workout."
Advice From Trainers
What does a trainer typically tell a client who is not feeling well and how do they, and the client, gauge when it is safe to keep working out and when it is time to let the body rest?
"If you are on antibiotics, it is definitely recommended that you don't work out," says Green. "But, in general, you should always follow the recommendation of a doctor rather than consult a trainer, because we are not qualified to make that judgment."
That's true, according to Dr. Stephen J. Nicholas of Lenox Hill Hospital's Nicholas Institute of Sports Medicine and Athletic Trauma. In fact, he says, working out when ill could lead to some very serious problems, even for fit and healthy athletes.
When Working Out Can Actually Harm the Body
"We don't know why this is, but some viruses that have settled in other parts of the body can move to the heart muscle if you exercise too much," says Dr. Nicholas. This can cause viral cardiomyopathy, a very serious and sometimes fatal condition that weakens the heart muscle.
While it is true that conditions like this are somewhat rare, it is best to take no chances. And there are other important reasons to avoid a workout when you are sick. Illness and fatigue can cause us to relax our diligence about using good form when we exercise. Fatigue can increase our level of clumsiness. This can lead to muscle strains or other injuries and accidents.
Taking The Body's Cues
Generally speaking, it is wisest to follow the body's cues when ill. If you are more tired than usual, or have body aches or fever, your body is trying to tell you it needs to rest and get better. To the untrained eye, symptoms of very serious viral condition can look identical to milder illnesses. It is best to take no chances.
If you do choose to work out when you are ill, it is important to keep your heart rate low, under 100 or 110 beats per minute. Mild walking and working out with light weights is fine, as long as it feels fine to you.
Jessie Green follows this advice for her own workouts. "When I don't feel well, I avoid exercises that bring my head down below my pelvis because that can make me feel lightheaded."
Long Lasting Colds
Some illnesses seem to stick around for a long time. Those winter colds, for example, are often followed up with days, or even weeks, of congestion and coughing. Does that mean days and weeks of no exercise? Not necessarily.
"Exercising after a cold can actually help alleviate symptoms," says Dr. Nicholas. "Sometimes, for example, vigorous exercise can help open up nasal passages." Again, if you aren't sure, the best advice is to follow the recommendations of a doctor.
Current research indicates that the dedicated exercises won't have to worry as much about all of this as their less active counterparts. According to the American College of Sports Medicine, people who do moderate workouts on a regular basis experience less illnesses. Moderate workouts seem to actually boost the immune system.
When a cold or flu does come along--as it does for almost everyone sooner or later--it can be difficult to take care of ourselves in a world where a "tough it out" philosophy is much more accepted than "slow down." Altering or stopping our usual workout routines when we are sick, however, and letting our bodies heal, is a real example of "less is more."
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