I just can't seem to keep up with an exercise routine. I love exercise when I'm actually doing it. I just seem to lack inertia sometimes. And it's really bad right now because for the past three weeks, we've had all kinds of ugly bugs in our house- strept, rotavirus, stomach flu, cold, and right now I have something really ugly going on in my digestive tract. (And that's on top of the constant fatigue and general yuckiness that I always feel and my doctor can't explain.) It seems like for every week I work out at the YMCA, we spend two more recovering from whatever illness DS picked up in their nursery.
What are some good rules for working out while sick? I know I shouldn't if I have a fever. (And goodness knows I can't right now.) But what about a cold? Overall malaise? I've just been stuck in a weird rut. Too icky to work out and feeling icky because I'm not working out.
Hey Mandy, I am going thru this right now. I haven't had a fever, but since about Weds, I was feeling run down, with my skin being sensitive (felt like a sunburn on my back, which is usually a sign of some low grade fever or lymphatic swelling for me) and couldn't swing it to work out. I just didn't have the strenght. I started back yesterday, even tho my cold has gone from the achy/dry throat phase to the wet sneezy phase. But tho I'm sneezing my head off, I feel good, kwim? So I work out now. Luckily I work out at home so I'm not hurting anyone by blowing my nose on the treadmill. But I do think you have to take it as you feel.
Too bad about your child at the Y nursery. I totally get it having 2 gone thru dc while I worked. Is there any way you could go while someone else watches your baby? Maybe after dh is home from work or even a teen that you could have come into your home? Especially at this age, when they put everything into their mouths and lick everything else!
I use the neck rule. If the sickness is at the neck or above (sore throat, runny nose, headache, ear infection, etc), I exercise. If the sickness is below the neck (chest cough, fever, nausea/vomiting, etc) I don't exercise. The exceptions to this for me are UTIs and cramps, both of which I work through.
I was really proud of myself last week when I went to the gym despite cramps. I popped some Advil and worked just as hard as usual. That felt good, emotionally if not physically.
I don't work out when I'm sick. And I've been sick with several things the last 2 months. But I've learned that if I do work out when sick, I usually take a backset and prolong it...not worth it to me.
Ditto almostheaven. I find it just breaks me down more, prolongs the sickness, and pushes off the fitness goals as I break down my body with no real chance to recover. I might take an easy walk or something, just to keep some psychological momentum, but that is about it. Rest, recover, run. In that order...
Do you work out when you're sick?
