link between exercise and illness?

  • I get motivated to exercise, I do good for a couple weeks with aerobic and weight training. Thinking to myself that I'm not overdoing it because always have a day of rest, nothing real strenuous. Then I catch a bug and wind up with the mother of all colds/flu type thing and I'm laid out for several days.

    It makes me afraid to even do any serious exercising because I always get sick when I increase too much. I know that I need to increase my activity level if I'm ever going to loose the last 20 pounds.

    Does this happen with anyone else? What do you do about it? I know that slinking back to bed and covering up with the blankets with a bowl of sugar free pudding and whip cream isn't the most productive way of dealing with it but sometimes it's what I want to do.

    I read a saying somewhere once , "when I get the urge to exercise, I lie down until it passes."

    Sarah
  • Hi Sarah
    I feel the same way as you at times but I think it is only a coincidence and don't let it get me down...
    I have a magnet on my fridge that says "Everytime I think of exercise, I lie down till the thought goes away" I have it there too make me laugh...It was a gift from my son.
    A little exercise is better than no exercise.

    Kim
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  • Hi Sarah - This has happened to me in the past. I was always big on exercise, so I did not suddenly start something new or increase what I was already doing, but about 5 years ago I started getting colds and generally feeling ill about every three weeks or so. I could definitely see a link between exercise and getting ill, since whenever I re-started working out after a short break I would get ill within several days. I never got an explanation from this from my doctor, and after about 2 or 3 years of this pattern it stopped. I'm still mystified. A friend once told me about something called "exercise induced asthma" which my doc told me I didn't have. But maybe if you google that you might find some info. Good luck - Ruby