This entry comes on the first full day of feeling normal after having a 48 hour bug that left me sweating, vomiting and totally incapacitated on my couch from Friday night to Sunday afternoon. Great weekend for me! Blah! While I was in no position to work out at all during that 48 hour visit to Hell it got me to thinking, about working out and being sick. Let’s face it, we’ve all been in that situation where we have been “mildly” sick and wondered if working out would help us “sweat it out”. We’ve all recovered from the crying “I want my Mommy” moments and wondered how soon is too soon to get back in the groove. While my answer may not be the the opinion of everyone, here’s some sound advice I follow that helps me feel better on my road to recovery.
We all know that being sick is no fun but if you over do it, you will just prolong your illness. With that in mind, your key word is LIGHT. You are there to feel better, not break a personal record. Next time you are sick, and have the energy, do some LIGHT cardio. Nothing intense, just keep moving. Open up those nasal passages and keep breathing. As simple as it seems, even just walking around the block will feel pretty good especially if you have been immobile on the couch for a few hours. Trust me, I know. Walking the dogs around the block (as far as I could make it before feeling like I was going to pass out) while I was home sick this weekend helped me feel better without me even realizing it. If you feel the need to do some weight training, go LIGHT. Again, if you are sick it’s really just about moving and feeling better. Your recovery will not be compromised as long as you go LIGHT.
When should you NOT work out? If you are vomiting, you have a fever, you are nauseous or are highly contagious and working out in a public gym, you should NOT be working out. Not only is it unfair and irresponsible to bring your funk in to the gym but karma will get you back when your body can’t recover and you end up prolonging your illness another week or so. It is not a sign of weakness when you cannot hit the gym and “kill it” the way you do every day. Everyone gets sick and needs to take the time to take care of themselves. Besides, we all know you are a bad ass...
...even when you are crying for your Mommy.