{"id":35132,"date":"2016-01-21T11:15:58","date_gmt":"2016-01-21T16:15:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/?p=35132"},"modified":"2021-04-30T09:10:00","modified_gmt":"2021-04-30T13:10:00","slug":"working-out-while-sick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/fitness\/working-out-while-sick\/","title":{"rendered":"Are You Crazy for Working Out While Sick?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Working
Photo: Pond5<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Even if you\u2019re psyched to work out<\/a>, let\u2019s be honest, sometimes your body is just not having it. We\u2019re all for pushing yourself when it\u2019s laziness that\u2019s holding you back, but there are times when heading to spin class or the weight room can do your body more harm than good.<\/p>\n

\u201cHealth comes before fitness, and even though we can\u2019t control when we get sick<\/a>, we can do our part in helping our body recover from illnesses,\u201d says certified personal trainer Idalis Velazquez, owner of IV Fitness<\/a> in Florida. And while rest is a staple of many feel-good regimens, in other cases, sweating it out can actually help your health, she says.<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong>\u00a07 Immunity-Boosting Foods to Fights Colds and Flu<\/a><\/p>\n

The Scoop on Working Out While Sick<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Whether you\u2019ve got the sniffles, or the full-on flu, learn when you should hit the gym \u2014 or if you\u2019re better off crawling under the covers.<\/p>\n

You Have a Cold<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Granted you don\u2019t have a fever, a runny nose is no reason to skip a workout, says Wayne Stokes, M.D., director of sports medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center\u2019s Rusk Rehabilitation. Instead, scale your intensity. Restless nights can stunt muscle strength<\/a> and a stuffed-up nose can make cardio a struggle. \u201cIf you are mildly sick, [staying] active will promote your immune function, and help you sleep better<\/a>,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Unless you count sprinting to the bathroom as a workout, you\u2019ll need to hold off.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cWhen I have a mild cold or stuffy nose\u2026I don\u2019t push myself or place any higher demand on my body during those sessions. I treat it like an active recovery day<\/a> and I tell my clients to do the same,\u201d Velazquez adds.<\/p>\n

However, gym etiquette<\/a> does dictate you should keep your workout quarantined to your home. When you have a cold, you\u2019re typically contagious for about five full days, and your germs spread most easily during your two to three most symptomatic days, says Michael P. Angarone, DO, assistant professor of infectious diseases and medical education at Northwestern University\u2019s Feinberg School of Medicine. Cold germs can live on hard surfaces like dumbbells for hours. And, get this, even if you wash your hands, sweat can carry snot particles down your face and onto equipment. (Insert heebie jeebies here.)<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong>\u00a0Can Vitamin C Really Help You Fight a Cold?<\/a><\/p>\n

You Have a Stomach Bug<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Unless you count sprinting to the bathroom as a workout, you\u2019ll need to hold off until you feel better.<\/p>\n

Diarrhea and vomiting \u2014 frequently caused by the norovirus (aka the stomach flu) \u2014 can result in severe fluid loss and dehydration<\/a>, according to Angarone. Breaking a sweat can further exacerbate fluid loss, leading to\u00a0symptoms ranging from dry skin to a rapid heartbeat. While you might need one bottle of water to fuel you during a regular workout, it could take three or more to keep you hydrated when you are suffering from stomach issues. And there\u2019s no good way to know how much you need, he says.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, the norovirus and other stomach-churning germs are highly contagious and can live on hard surfaces until unsuspecting gym-goers pick them up, Angarone says. If you feel well enough to keep moving despite your symptoms, Stokes says stretching<\/a> (at home) is safe. Easing any muscle tension with a foam roller<\/a> might also help you feel better.<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong>\u00a07 New Recovery Tools You\u2019ll Love to Hate<\/a><\/p>\n

You Have a Fever or the Flu<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Take meds and stay in bed, please. Working out with a fever can make your health way worse, Stokes says. That\u2019s largely because a fever, like vomiting, can cause workout-wrecking dehydration<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Even more concerning, high temperatures (101 degrees and up) have been linked to heart damage<\/a>. And exercising through a fever can raise your risk of myocarditis<\/a>, an inflammation of the heart muscle that may result in heart dysfunction, failure or sudden death, Stokes says. \u201cIt\u2019s not common, but it is possible and good reason not to push yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Angarone recommends resting until your fever has been gone for a full 24 hours, without the help of any fever-reducing medications like ibuprofen. If you have the flu<\/a>, it will likely take three to five days for your symptoms to let up. Don\u2019t forget that your fever, muscle aches, and other pains are often signs that your body is trying to fight off a virus. So if you make your body split its energy and resources between the infection and exercise, you will likely be sick longer, he says.<\/p>\n

Even a week of bed rest will cause a slight loss of muscle mass and strength<\/a>, according to Stokes. So when you head back<\/a> into the gym, don\u2019t be discouraged if it takes a few workouts to get back to where you used to be.<\/p>\n

Remember, listen to your body, and if you\u2019ve got a fever or a stomach bug, be sure to rest. Contagious folks should work out at home<\/a> \u2014 and if you\u2019re fighting a cold, a foam roller might be your new best friend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You\u2019re feeling crappy. But whether you should skip the gym depends on what\u2019s ailing you. Find out if working out while sick is a good idea, or bad. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":35135,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,24,6,14],"tags":[288,289,208,281,341,343],"class_list":["post-35132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cardio","category-exercise","category-fitness","category-strength-training","tag-cardio","tag-exercise","tag-flu","tag-strength-training","tag-tax1living-well","tag-tax2exercise"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35132"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35132\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}