If I am sick, should I skip my workouts?

This is a question I hear often and one that I had to answer for myself this morning. Last night I had a sore throat and general ill feeling. You know, nasty taste in the mouth, tired, achy, sore throat; just not feeling well. The decision to carry on with training would be made in the morning.

Cut to 6:00 a.m. My sleep was relatively good considering my son slept between my legs on top of the covers like a cat. My throat was much better, but I definitely sound sick and my body is achy from the workouts this week. I decided I would carry on with moderate intensity treadmill walking for an hour. Weight training is postponed until my symptoms are better.

Why would you continue with cardio and not do weights? The rule of thumb for cardio is anything above the neck you can continue your workouts being careful to exercise to the level you feel comfortable. Anything below the neck or accompanied by fever you should wait until you are feeling better. Moderate cardio does not place high demands on the body and your body does not work the rest of the day to repair damage like it does with weight training.

With weight training, you need to be a little more concerned with your illness and how you feel. If you have the flu, you DEFINITELY take a break from your schedule. The common cold or allergies MIGHT suspend your program. Weight training breaks down muscle tissue and places high demand on your energy systems and immune system to repair itself placing your body in a catabolic state. To burn fat, gain muscle, and feel good the body must be able to enter the anabolic state…the state in which your body repairs the muscle tissue damage. The flu, colds, stomach bugs, and such also place high demand on your energy systems to repair the body and cause you enter a catabolic state. Compounding weight training on top of sickness, you run the risk of being sick longer and getting almost no return from your workout.

The best course of action to continue to see gains in your training programs and get well fast are to take a break when you are sick from weight training and do your cardio only as you feel up to it. Cardio can help you when you have a common cold by oxygenating the body and working up some productive coughing. Don’t expect to bust out HIIT training, but a good walk, especially in the sunshine can do amazing things for your recovery. Always drink plenty of fluids while you are sick and rest. You’ll come back ready to move forward in your training.

Cardio: Treadmill walk 55 min. and stretching for five minutes. Moderate intensity and pace keeping HR around 70-75%

Daily Food Journal:

B – Egg Whites with fat free cheese, 2 pcs of toast and SF jelly, coffee, water
S – Fruit and water
L – SBD Pizza and water
S – Fruit, SF/FF Iced Latte at McD’s Playland with son (it’s raining so we’ll go there to play)
D – Artichoke and Asparagus Chicken with WW pasta and a touch of Reduced Fat Feta Cheese
S – Oatmeal with choc protein powder

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