It’s funny how life sends me the opportunity to do these blogs. I am sick right now (luckily my shin splints healed last week…) It seems that my lungs are inflamed and congested (it’s difficult for me to admit that it might be pneumonia). So, I am reminded of a question that I get quite often from fitness participants: I’m sick. Should I work out?

Here is the quick and easy guideline that I follow:

If you have a fever, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle or joint aches, or worse – you shouldn’t work out. Your body needs all the energy it has to help fight off your infection. Working out with these conditions can sometimes make things worse.
If all you have is some head congestion maybe due to allergies or a mild cold – a light to moderate workout can be okay. In fact,

I have found with these conditions I find some sinus relief during my workout – the discomfort usually returns once the workout is over, but at least it gave me some relief during.

Once you do decide to workout after even the mildest illness – please remember to baby step back into it. If you have only been gone a week – then you baby step for a week. If you have been gone longer – then baby step longer. Don’t be in a hurry to get back to where you were before you became ill – if you are then you might overdue it – causing you to relapse with your illness and therefore taking you even longer to get back to where you were.

Being fit and healthy doesn’t mean you are never going to get sick again. But you do recover soooo much quicker.
Oh yeah – and don’t use being sick as an excuse to eat whatever you want (like many women do with pregnancy). Good nutrition is especially important when recovering from an illness.

Just so you know, I plan on working out tomorrow – 20 minutes on the recumbent bike and a few strength training exercises. But I will see how I feel in the morning…