Do you work out when you're sick?
 

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.

The neck rule. Cool. Good one!

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...

Anne