Should You Train If You Have a Cold?

You’re on a roll – been exercising almost every day, running at least 10km a week and seeing a vast improvement in your physique and then, you catch a cold. While it is very well known that regular exercise helps improve your immune system and strengthen your body’s reaction to infections, many people don’t know if it’s a good idea to continue training while sick.

If you have contracted a mild cold and are experiencing symptoms such as a runny nose, coughing and sneezing, it is acceptable to continue training at a low to moderate intensity. Do just enough to maintain your current progress but don’t try to go beyond that. You body requires its full attention to fight off the bacteria – it doesn’t need to also repair muscles and store more energy because you’ve gone and performed high intensity training. It just so happens that extremely high intensity workouts can have the exact opposite effect on the immune system and leave it wide open to infection.

The basic rule here is if your discomfort is above the neck, i.e. stuffy nose, slight cough, it is acceptable to work out. Keep it very simple and by that I mean no weight lifting and no high intensity training. If after ten minutes you still feel okay, it is alright to continue your low impact exercise. If you have a stomach virus, vomiting, diarrhea, body aches, it is best to avoid exercise altogether until you feel better.

Any weight training is best left until you have fully recovered. Your body will not have the energy to do any serious progress in your workout and you will only tire yourself out. Your body needs to focus on fighting off the infection and does not need any competition in trying to recover.

The only way to give yourself a fighting chance at a quicker recovery is to help your body eliminate the illness. Drink over the required eight 6 oz. glasses of water per day to help flush out toxins. Get plenty of rest and at least 7 hours of sleep per night. Avoid highly strenuous activities so you don’t tire out your body with unimportant things. And lastly, don’t give your fellow exercisers the chance to catch your cold by prematurely going back to the gym. Colds often are still contagious for a few days after you feel like the symptoms are gone.

Don likes to write on a number of subjects and has been doing so for several years. His newest internet site is http://skycaddiesg4.org which supplies folks with information on the SkyCaddie SG5.

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