Building Bodies Fitness
Training or Television? To Train Or Not When Your Sick.
Sometimes, exercise can help us feel better if we've woken up feeling 'under
the weather'. Other times, however, working out when we're sick can leave
us feeling far worse than we did before we started. This article explains
how readers can decide on whether exercise or rest is the better option, and
gives suggestions for those who find it difficult to allow themselves time
off from their training for recovery.
BODY OF ARTICLE: Copyright 2005 Tanja Gardner
Understatement of the week: Creating an exercise routine you can actually
stick to is not the easiest thing in the world. Corollary to understatement:
Waking up sick on a day you’d planned on working out can be a tad frustrating.
It’s tempting to ignore that ‘under the weather’ feeling and push on regardless.
Our minds threaten us with pictures of how much ground we’ll lose if we don’t
train. We’re concerned that we’re being too soft with ourselves (as one of
my friends described it, ‘If I stopped training every time there was something
wrong with my body, I’d never get anything done!’) Or we worry that if we
break our routine once, we’ll never get back into it.
Sometimes it’s actually OK to exercise when ill. Although no-one’s been able
to prove that you can ‘sweat out a cold’, if your only symptom is a sniffle,
moderate exercise can sometimes help you feel clearer in the short term. Going
for a walk is one of the most effective fixes for a headache. But all too
often, exercising when you’re unwell can make you end up sicker than you started
out.
THE EFFECTS OF EXERCISE
To understand why this is, it may help to revisit the effect exercise has
on your body. Your heart rate rises, your core temperature increases, your
body burns fuel faster than usual, you lose water through perspiration, and
your respiratory and circulatory systems (as well as the muscles you’re working)
are all stressed well beyond their normal levels. In short, the demands for
your body’s resources increase markedly.
In a well-rested, well-nourished body, this is no trouble. When the body is
weakened by sickness, however, there’s potential for problems. For example,
if you’re running a fever, your core temperature is already high. Raising
it higher by pushing yourself during a workout can be dangerous. In a similar
vein, we’re told to keep our fluids up when we’re sick because with a higher
core temperature, it’s easy to become dehydrated. Exercising (which increases
water loss) makes dehydration more likely.
CONSIDERATION
So how do we know when to push on regardless, and when to just say ‘no’? If
you exercise around other people – e.g. in a gym, class, or as part of a club
– your first concern needs to be consideration for them. Fellow exercisers
will not thank you for sharing your bug with them. If you’re coughing and
sneezing – or if you’re touching exercise equipment that will be touched by
other people – it’s only polite to stay away until you’re no longer infectious.
If you’re not sure how long this will be, speak to your doctor.
THE NECK CHECK
Assuming your illness isn’t contagious, however (or that you work out alone),
you have more choices. One quick, simple tool for deciding is the ‘neck check’
developed by Dr Randy Eichner at the University of Oklahoma. With this system,
you simply look at where your symptoms are located.
If they’re above the neck, e.g. headache, sniffles and/or a slightly scratchy
throat, it may be OK to keep exercising – but take it very slow. Exercise
at about 50% of your usual intensity for the first ten minutes, then stop
and see how you feel. If you feel about the same or better than when you started,
feel free to continue - gradually raising the intensity. If you feel dizzy,
floaty, or in any way worse than you did when you started, however, stop immediately,
and give yourself the rest of the day off.
If any of your symptoms are below the neck – fever, coughing, nausea, stomach
cramps or aching muscles – it’s better to skip your workout altogether and
stay wrapped up in bed. Exercising with any of these symptoms diverts your
body’s much-needed resources from where they’re needed to fight off your illness
(in effect, you’ve joined in the battle – on the side of the germs!), and
may additionally increase your likelihood of injuring yourself.
ASK YOURSELF "WHY?"
Look at your symptoms on a day-by-day basis, and if you’re ever unsure whether
to resting or exercise, contact your doctor for advice. If you’re reluctant
to take time off, it can help to step back and ask yourself why you’re exercising
in the first place. If you’re training for a specific event, ask yourself
whether it’s better to take a couple of days off now, or tough it out and
risk having to take a couple of months out of your regime later. If you exercise
because it makes you feel better and healthier – ask yourself the logic of
making your body miserable by pushing it when it’s telling you it needs to
heal.
If you have any questions about this week’s article, please don’t hesitate
to contact me. Otherwise, until next time, may every day bring you closer
to your Optimum Life.
RESOURCE BOX: Optimum Life's Tanja Gardner is a Personal Trainer and Stress
Management Coach whose articles on holistic health, relaxation and spirituality
have appeared in various media since 1999. To find out more about how you
could benefit from online personal training, please visit http://www.trainerforce.com/optimumlife.
Optimum Life is dedicated to providing fitness and stress management services
to help clients all over the world achieve their optimum lives. If you’d like
to discuss anything in this article with Tanja, you can contact her on tanja@optimumlife.co.nz
and