Thread: Training when sick....

Unless it is something like the flu, I continue my workouts. I have noticed that when I start working out my body shuts down the symptoms. My nose will stop running, my cough stops, my headache goes away, etc. I feel great during my workout but not long after I get home the symptoms return. I make an extra effort not to shake anyone's hand or contaminate the equipment.

Originally Posted by maturemuscle

Unless it is something like the flu, I continue my workouts. I have noticed that when I start working out my body shuts down the symptoms. My nose will stop running, my cough stops, my headache goes away, etc. I feel great during my workout but not long after I get home the symptoms return. I make an extra effort not to shake anyone's hand or contaminate the equipment.

Usually that's the case with me....But this time around, I think strength took a bus outta town. I guess I'll just get hydrated and keep gettin' it.

Unless I have a really bad sore throat (I am a sissy when it comes to throat illnesses) I will be in the gym. I sometimes shy away from running if I am very congested, mostly just because I always look for excuses not to run...

You could use it as a chance to take a few days off. I personally feel worse taking time off from training when I'm perfectly healthy. If you're due for a break from training, kill two birds with one stone. The rest will do you good on both levels.

Originally Posted by FMJ

You could use it as a chance to take a few days off. I personally feel worse taking time off from training when I'm perfectly healthy. If you're due for a break from training, kill two birds with one stone. The rest will do you good on both levels.

Well, I haven't been back in the gym for too long now....but based on this week..business, pesky symptoms/congestion, and the fact that I'm re-vamping my diet Monday....might not be such a terrible idea. Besides, my son has a swim meet this weekend that is hosted by the YMCA...I can always catch up Saturday night and Sunday if the guilt is driving me nuts by then.

Besides, you'll probably be over it by the weekend anyway if it's that minor.

I won't train if I am sick.

The only exception I've trained through far was a cold that lasted several weeks. That experience was a couple years ago. The cold wasn't that bad, just nagging fatigue.

Extra sleep heals, IMHO. Workouts don't need to be fantastic, just enough to build spirits.

I always try to push threw my workouts when im sick, but i sweat alot and it usually gets worse !!! But when i stop to get recovery from an illness i feel like i come back usually in a week i don't feel as strong..lol

It depends on what it is obviously, but if I have a cold there is no way I'm missing the gym.

A good work out, healthy eats, sitting in the sauna/steam and I feel way better than I would have had I just bummed around in bed all day.

From what I've read taking BCAA's post workout aids in immune system recovery especially when you are ill.

If you train at a public gym while you are sick, I hope you get ass cancer.

Originally Posted by DaMayor

Just out of curiosity, how many of you continue to train through minor illness? I believe there are studies showing that one's immune system seems to fight harder if one continues to move as opposed to giving in to the (minor) illness and "resting".

I would be interested in a study that demonstrates that.

Can you still exercise even with a runny nose?

INDIANAPOLIS- Most Americans suffer from one to six colds per year, and are able to fight them off whether they exercise or not. Exercise and physical activity enthusiasts and athletes often wonder whether working out has any effect on the severity or duration of cold symptoms.
Recent research published by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), in the November issue of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise®, indicates that moderate exercise during a rhinovirus-caused cold does not appear to affect symptom severity or duration. Although it is known that moderate exercise may decrease the risk of acquiring an upper-respiratory infection (URI), nothing had previously been documented to demonstrate whether exercise training while suffering from a cold would reduce or intensify the symptoms. Researchers decided to construct a study that might contribute to the body of information many athletes and exercise enthusiasts base their decisions on about how much to train during a cold.


Lead investigator Thomas G. Weidner, Ph.D., Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, said "We know that colds kept some of the 1992 Winter Olympics athletes from competing at their best. We assumed that exercise could further compromise the immune system during an illness. So we hypothesized that even moderate exercise could prolong the severity and duration of a cold."

Fifty moderately fit student volunteers were recruited for the study, and divided randomly between two groups: exercising and non-exercising. The exercising group worked out at specified times and under supervision, while the non-exercising group was instructed to be sedentary with the exception of walking to class or working at their part-time jobs. Each study participant was inoculated with a predetermined number of infectious particles of a rhinovirus and then all exercisers and non-exercisers were followed for a ten-day period. All participants were asked to refrain from self-treating their colds.

Prior to being infected, all subjects were asked to complete a 13-symptom checklist. Besides reporting regularly on their symptoms after the inoculation, study subjects kept a daily log of their physical activity. The exercise group trained at 70 percent of their measured heart rate reserve for 40 minutes at the same time every day, either running, stair climbing or bicycling.

At the conclusion of the study, analysis of exercise training data, physical activity profiles, symptom severity scores and actual mucous weight measurement showed no statistically significant difference between the exercising and non-exercising groups.

The authors reiterated a useful model for exercising during a cold. If symptoms such as a runny nose, sneezing or a scratchy throat exist (so-called "above-the-neck" symptoms), it is probably safe for an individual to exercise at a lower intensity. If these symptoms recede in the first few minutes of exercise, intensity may be increased accordingly. Exercise is not, however, recommended for individuals experiencing "below-the-neck" symptoms of a cold, such as fever, sore muscles or joints, vomiting or diarrhea, or a productive cough. Persons with such symptoms are urged to allow the illness to run its course and resume physical activity when the cold is gone. The results of this study allow us to conclude that "above-the neck" symptom sufferers will not experience prolongation or exacerbation of their illness if they do moderate-intensity exercise.


Okay, so maybe I was wrong. I've always found that if I continue to work, move or work out prior to and/or during a minor illness, such as sinusitis or rhinitis, that I felt better and recovered sooner, whereas if I had "given in" to the condition and crawled into bed like many folks, I would have given the bacteria or virus the upper hand....a felt like death for days.

Originally Posted by Robert

I would be interested in a study that demonstrates that.

I would too, since pretty much all valid research says the exact opposite.

Originally Posted by KelJu

I would too, since pretty much all valid research says the exact opposite.

Oh, quit kissing the Admin's ass...I said I was wrong already.

Originally Posted by DaMayor

Oh, quit kissing the Admin's ass...I said I was wrong already.

I posted before I read the entire thread. I wasn't trying to rub your face in it.

Originally Posted by KelJu

I posted before I read the entire thread. I wasn't trying to rub your face in it.

I figured that.

Originally Posted by KelJu

If you train at a public gym while you are sick, I hope you get ass cancer.

love leju.. just raw..you from detroit?rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrufff get em buck !!!

Originally Posted by KelJu

If you train at a public gym while you are sick, I hope you get ass cancer.

I agree with you on that KelJu. I was fine until a family new to the gym came in last week and the wife coughed constantly during the 15 minute walk about through the gym with the manager.

Anyone that goes to the gym while they're sick is a deuchebag. Keep your sick ass at home. No one else wants your nasty germs.

There's a difference between being SICK and just having a little cold, runny nose or cough imo. If I am sick, ie have a fever of 100+, Ill stay at home, if I just have a runny nose and the cough I'm going to the gym....sorry. lol

I'm highjacking Mayors thread here... How many of you guys have the balls to work out through a throbbing toothache?
I don't know if I have the balls or not but I'm gonna try today. It's one of those good ones too... know the kind? When each time your heart beats you get a little strobe of pain in the gland just beneith your ear?
Should be a blast man! lol

I like the tooth pain better if you have a loose tooth and you wiggle it with your tongue or bite down on it a little bit moving it in the socket as your cranking a rep..exquisite

Originally Posted by Spaullba

There's a difference between being SICK and just having a little cold, runny nose or cough imo. If I am sick, ie have a fever of 100+, Ill stay at home, if I just have a runny nose and the cough I'm going to the gym....sorry. lol

Well, your opinion is wrong. There is no difference between having a severe cold and a moderate one, because rhinoviruses are all transferred the same way. Your little cold goes from you to everyone else through your snot on your hands to every piece of equipment you touch.

Don't say you are sorry, because you aren't. You are simply an inconsiderate douchnozzle. So, sorry, lol.

For clarification:

Douche Nozzle


noun

• variation of douchebag, but deemed far worse.

If im paying for a gym membership I will go when I want. Your health is really of no concern to me...

Plus, there are rags and disinfectant spray at most gyms for the sole reason to prevent the spreading of germs...

Originally Posted by twarrior

I agree with you on that KelJu. I was fine until a family new to the gym came in last week and the wife coughed constantly during the 15 minute walk about through the gym with the manager.

Anyone that goes to the gym while they're sick is a deuchebag. Keep your sick ass at home. No one else wants your nasty germs.

like he said doushebag if you have from the sniffles to the fuckin ass runs stay out of the gym.....

Originally Posted by Geared Jesus

I like to go to the gym when im sick for the sole purporse of spreading my germs to everyone there.

Keeps the squat rack cleared out!


GYCH!