Exercising with a cold

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TigerLily100
TigerLily100 Posts: 81 Member
edited January 2018 in Fitness and Exercise
Hi all,

What do you guys do exercise wise when you catch a cold?
And I mean a cold that maybe gives you a bit of a headache, the snuffles, leaves you feeling more tired than normal and maybe a cough towards the end.
I don't mean flu, where you would have a temperature and fever and really feel *kitten*.

I am doing tough mudder in a few months and on one hand I am thinking if I can't work out through a cold god help me come the day as it's going to be the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. On the other hand I get the whole idea that to recover from any illness the body needs rest.

I am on a running programme at present and it's definitely harder with a cold but then the cardiovascular system is a lot fitter than my legs so it's still the legs giving out first.

I can't go easier on the running as only doing run 1 min, brisk walk 2 and repeat again and again etc. Just starting out. Sod's law I am full of cold and don't know whether I need to man up and crack on and quit whining or get in the pj's

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  • TigerLily100
    TigerLily100 Posts: 81 Member
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    MistressSara wrote: »
    The "rule" I've heard since the early 1990s and still hear today is that if you're ill from the neck up, exercise. If you're ill from the chest down, rest. This is what I generally do anyway.

    Never thought of it that way. Definitely only ill neck up......so need to man up
  • dewd2
    dewd2 Posts: 2,445 Member
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    I was sick the last week of the year and I did take a few days off. Resting a few days does nothing to hurt your fitness and running (in my case) when you can't stop sneezing is no fun. After a few days I started to feel a little better and got back out there. I just took it easy for a while.

    Then it turned into a persistent cough that wouldn't go away for 10 days. Every time I tried to up the intensity I would lose a lung. :# So I just kept it easy and eventually I was back to normal.

    So my advice is to take it easy for a day or 2.

    Good luck.
  • DancingMoosie
    DancingMoosie Posts: 8,619 Member
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    Light cardio always helps clear my head when I have a cold. You might feel extra worn out afterwards though, so be prepared to rest.
  • notperfect2015
    notperfect2015 Posts: 8 Member
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    The rule I’m trying to force myself to hold to is that if I don’t feel like working out (for whatever reason) I have to at least suit up and give it a shot. If once I get going I still don’t want to I can stop, but 9 times out of 10 I end up finishing my workout.

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