Towards the end of my trip to Illinois, I started to feel congested. They’ve had some illnesses going around the shop and unfortunately it’s hard not to share them, especially when you’re traveling and in a climate you’re not used to. I think I ended up picking up something there which slowed down, but didn’t stop my training. Below are some of the tricks I use to determine what to do when I’m feeling sick, though every time is a bit different and it always takes some experimentation.
Caution: I am not a medical professional, and this post is based on my personal experience and general fitness knowledge. If you are sick, injured, or unsure whether you should train, it’s always best to consult a qualified medical professional. When in doubt, prioritize your health and follow professional medical advice.
Below the Neck
The advice I’ve heard always says to stop training if you feel anything below the neck. If you have a deep chest cough, fever and/or body aches, this is you. Take the time to rest and get better since you do not want to push yourself if you have or are at risk for pneumonia or more severe illnesses. Below I will outline how I typically handle it when I’m sick with something I feel something in my throat or sinuses “above the neck.” Remember you can always switch exercises too, for example, I struggle with cycling while sick, mostly mental, but I always consider adding something in its place, though that doesn’t happen as much as it should.
Running
When feeling sick, if I’m doing okay breathing, I will treat my runs as light recovery runs. At least I try to get out for 10 minutes and see how it goes. I don’t push myself too hard with pace or beat myself up for excessive walk breaks. After 10 minutes, if I’m not feeling up to it, I’ll stop, though in my experience, once I get that far, I like to keep going, at least for my shorter runs which are normally 20-30 minutes. If I have a long run, I will play it by ear, maybe agreeing with myself to do something shorter and/or a lot more walking.
Cycling
I have been struggling to build a consistent routine with cycling. What I should do is approach it the same way I do running. Being honest, I generally don’t even try it. I’m working on doing more cycling and I’m hoping I can make it a stronger habit as I used to love riding my bike as a kid and I’ve done well as an adult at times, it’s just very off and on for me. For me, cycling does seem to use my heart a lot more than running so I would be more mindful of watching my heart rate to ensure it stays low.
Swimming
For me, the hardest part of swimming is breathing, this was one of my focal points when I started lessons. How do I breathe without sucking up water, coughing and even gagging? I never thought I would do well swimming sick. However when I am sick, as long as I’m not too sick, my swimming is nearly unaffected. I do end up going a bit slower and taking longer rests, but in the end, I can accomplish a solid swim performance when a little sick.
Note: From what I’ve read, in a well managed pool, chlorine should kill most bacteria and viruses, but not 100% and not instantly. If I’m very sick, coughing up phlegm, have a very runny nose or the pool is crowded, I will sit the day out.
Strength Training
Strength training is another feasible workout when sick. I’ve found that I am generally weaker than I would be otherwise so this is a perfect opportunity for a deload week. When I take deload weeks, I do the same number of sets and reps of the same exercises, though I reduce the weight to about 60% of what I have most recently lifted. Once I’m healthy, I will increase the weight back to where I was or closer to where I was, depending on the duration. I tend to be a bit more conservative as I know I will increase it as I consistently hit 10 reps.
Summary
Sickness doesn’t have to stop your training. You should slow down, take things easier to allow your body to recover. This also includes giving yourself the grace to not do all workouts as planned without beating yourself up. If you take care of your body while you’re sick, you’ll be able to return to training sooner and likely be in better shape when you do.