My rule of thumb for exercising when sick has always been if I don't have a fever, I'm not throwing up or I'm not otherwise in the bathroom, go ahead and do it. In fact, when I have a head cold (stuffed up sinuses), the only thing that makes me feel better is moving.
However, what about a cough? My head cold has moved into my chest and I'm coughing. I can't see the harm in exercising if I can still breath and the coughing doesn't take over. Any experience in this area?
(Disclaimer: I am really anal retentive about not being in public - like the gym- when contagious. So let me just clarify that I'm not contagious - it's not TB, or the flu, there's no fever. )
I too try to power through when I am sick - even if I cut back on the time. If you don't feel up to it then I'd take a day or two off. When you exercise does the cough get worse ??? You have to give your body a break when it's ill.
It all just depends on how sick I am. If I'm just at the start of a cold or if I just have a mild cold (say a 1-4 on a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 is perfectly healthy and 10 is near dead), I'll try to do at least a light workout. In some cases, I think I've been able to head off a cold this way.
But if I'm really sick (say 5-10 on my scale), to the point where I just don't feel like I have much energy, I stay home and rest. You don't typically run a fever with a cold, so that's not always a good indicator of whether or not you should work out.
Also, don't kid yourself--if you're coughing or your nose is running, you're contagious. All viruses, including mild colds, are contagious. Most are transferred by hand to hand contact (or by someone touching something you have touched), not by coughing or sneezing. If you wash your hands frequently and don't touch your mouth (cough and sneeze into your elbow), you will be at least less likely to infect anyone else.
I don't exercise if I'm sick. I live on a very hilly campus and have gotten to the point where I can get to the top of hills, stairs, and even my 4th floor walkup dorm without getting winded. However, when I get a cold, I get winded just going up one flight of stairs so there's no point pushing it!
I've had allergies the last few weeks and I am still going, lol. The worst part has been coughing because of an itchy throat so I take a peppermint with me when I walk, even on the treadmill. It soothes the throat and stops the itch & cough. Now, I know this isn't a good idea if exercising...end up choking on it. But it's what works for me.
The only time I don't walk or exercise is if I have a bad headache...any kind of movement makes it worse.
I have a walking video I do everyday. It isn't much but it is a start. I ended up with a bronchial virus that went straight to the lungs and was pretty sick. Just getting over it. I can't do the walking video like I should, get to winded and cough so much BUT I do the video, not as hard and sometimes hit pause and get my breath back and coughing over with and then hit play. I have asthma so sometimes you just have to stick with it but take it easy.
Think of it from another point of view -- how do you feel when you are in the gym and somebody else is in there hacking up a lung? Do you want to be anywhere around? Or anywhere else outside of that building? The disinfectant bottle gets quite the workout at my gym when somebody is in there coughing.
That said -- I have allergies. Nasty, mondo, indoor, outdoor, you name it over the top allergies. My nose will be going, I'll be coughing from post nasal drip. I'm not contagious at all, nobody can "catch" my allergies. But the average joe in the gym would never know that unless they know me. So I err on the side of politeness and skip the gym when the cough is out of control. If I can somewhat control it (peppermints do work!), I'll go for it and make sure there is a big old show of me cleaning the machine when I'm done!
Only you know your body for sure. What's the rest of your body telling you to do? Clear the cobwebs or find a cup of tea and a good movie?
Exercising when you have a cold?
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